Does your kid take the bus to school? Now you can view inspection results online
Service NL minister will now have power to permanently suspend licence or certificate at any time
The minister of Service Newfoundland and Labrador announced Tuesday that government is going public with school bus inspection results.
Minster Eddie Joyce says Service NL will also double fines and increase the length of suspensions for mechanics and certified inspection garages that are caught giving false inspections.
- School bus company, mechanic face 100 charges
- School buses taken off road for leaking brake lines, broken emergency gear
"We are clamping down very hard on this," said Joyce.
"We're doing our very best to increase enforcement and increase the penalties not only for the mechanics, but the inspection station as well."
The results of inspections will be posted online in the spring and fall, and the public will be able to view each school bus in the province's results.
Joyce says Fall's inspections results for school buses available online. Will be released to public bi-annually. Said 94% passed. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cbcnl?src=hash">#cbcnl</a> <a href="https://t.co/Ekm3XmAZUO">pic.twitter.com/Ekm3XmAZUO</a>
—@ChrisEnsingCBCJoyce said six per cent of the 1,060 school buses inspected between September and Dec. 16 failed.
When asked why government won't commit to inspecting every school bus from January to September, Joyce said it's more complicated.
"It's pretty hard to go out and inspect over a thousand buses," said Joyce, repeating that 94 per cent of buses passed inspections.
Spot inspections coming
The announcement comes after a private company on contract with the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District had seven vehicles ordered off the road in October.
A mechanic and the director of Island Bus Services have been charged with 100 violations of the Highway Traffic Safety Act.
Joyce said that every school bus must be inspected by a Service NL highway enforcement officer, before it hits the road each September.
Tuesday's announcement also allows for spot inspections by highway enforcement officers leading up the start of the school year.
If you get caught, we can freeze that site until the minister gives permission to set up that site again.- Eddie Joyce
Joyce said inspectors will check out 30 per cent of all school buses in the province between January and September. If an inspector finds a problem with a bus, they can then inspect the company's entire fleet.
Each school bus will be inspected at least three times during the year, he added.
No changing names
Under the tightened regulations announced Tuesday, the minister of Service NL will also now have the power to suspend a mechanic or inspections site's license at any time.
Joyce said the site suspensions will stop companies from simply changing names to get back in business.
"What happened before if someone got caught with their inspection station — they'd set up the next day in someone else's name," said Joyce.
"What we're saying is that if this inspection station, if you get caught, we can freeze that site until the minister gives permission to set up that site again."
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