On the heels of Jackisha Baynard's fall out of an emergency exit door in the back of her bus that was left open, inspectors are putting a halt on private bus drivers with buses that aren't up to speed.
"We are out here with police to check these buses, their tires, fire equipment, anything that that can affect your child's safety," said Ivan Cotayo, with Miami-Dade Consumer Services.
Almost 1,500 private school buses in Miami-Dade transport thousands of students every day, and so the inspections are made to keep the private bus companies on their toes.
"We took some of them out of service for bad tires," Sgt. Dan Kelly, with the Miami Springs Police, said, "and this is only the beginning of the school year."
Today, the inspectors took a look at 33 buses. Five of them were taken out of service for having real trouble. In all, the inspectors discovered 14 different violations, all of which could affect the safe transportation of your kid to and from school.
It's not just the buses that get placed under the microscope, though -- so do the drivers.
Their driving records are checked, insurance paperwork, a criminal background check is done, and they have to be certified and complete a training program.
Parents should look for a red sticker on the bus windshield, which shows it should be on the road.
While some of the minor violations can be cleared up, and the drivers given time to fix them, the more serious violations also carry with them a $1,000 fine.
