Checking Safety of Buses and Vans
VALLEJO, Calif. (KCBS) _ The California Highway Patrol conducted a surprise inspection of tour buses and passenger vans at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom on Saturday.
The inspections come just two weeks after a Greyhound bus crash in the Central Valley killed six people. That bus had not been recently inspected.
Andres Reyes had just dropped off a group of teenagers from a Portuguese church in Turlock when his van was inspected.
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"They asked me if this was a church van and I said yes," Reyes said. "Then they brought it here for inspection and inspected everything. They told me the brake lights had to be changed."
Reyes was frantically trying to get someone to bring him a tail light. But CHP Sergeant Mike Lehman said that wasn't his only problem.
"He was placed out of service for a licensing violation. He didn't have the proper license to operate the vehicle that he was driving," said Lehman.
Fortunately for Reyes, one of the other church members had the proper license, otherwise, they would have been stranded.
Lehman said the surprise inspections usually find violations. The goal is to make sure commercial passenger vehicles are safe.
