Up to 4,000 school buses Virginia-wide nay need safety device installed

Department of Education notified all 132 school divisions

(Mario Tama/Getty Images)

RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia's Department of Education notified all 132 school divisions last week that as many as 4,000 school buses may need retrofitting to install a safety device that prevents the parking brake from accidentally disengaging.

The device -- a brake interlock -- is required on all buses with automatic transmissions purchased after March 24, 2011, when the mechanism was added to the state Board of Education’s minimum specifications for school buses.

On buses equipped with a brake interlock, it is not possible to release the parking brake without first depressing the brake pedal.

Unlike most passenger vehicles with automatic transmissions, school bus transmissions do not have a “park” setting. After stopping the bus, the driver places the bus in neutral and then pulls the parking brake valve on the dashboard. Without the interlock, the parking brake could accidentally disengage,

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School divisions were alerted to the issue earlier this month after VDOE tested individual buses purchased from the leading manufacturers after March 2011 and found that none of the vehicles was equipped with the required parking brake interlock. Dealers provided the department with estimates on the number of non-compliant buses sold to school divisions since the specification was approved by the state board.

“The safety of students is the department’s highest priority and the department will work with school divisions, manufacturers and school bus dealers to make sure that all non-compliant buses are brought into full compliance with the state Board of Education’s equipment specifications as quickly as possible,” superintendent of Public Instruction Steven R. Staples said.

The office is not aware of an incident in which a student or other person was injured by a school bus that inadvertently rolled because of an accidentally disengaged parking brake.

VDOE is surveying school divisions to identify all school buses in need of retrofitting. Dealers and manufacturers have been directed to submit plans to the department detailing the steps that will be taken to install brake interlocks on all non-compliant buses at no expense to school divisions. The retrofitting can be done in about 90 minutes by factory or dealer technicians at division pupil transportation facilities. 

WSLS 10 is reaching out to area school districts to determine if any of their buses are non-compliant.