School Bus Maker Issues Brake Warning

One of the country’s largest school bus manufacturers is warning that 6,000 of its buses may have defective brake systems. The company that makes the systems said Saturday that the same defect could affect as many as 300,000 commercial vehicles.

When the vehicles are moving slowly, typically less than 20 mph, they can lose their braking ability for up to three seconds, said Debi Nicholson, a spokeswoman for Freightliner Corp., the Portland-based parent company of school bus maker Thomas Built Buses Inc.

The problem was discovered by the brake system’s manufacturer, Bendix of Elyria, Ohio, after a San Francisco school bus experienced a temporary loss of brake capability. The driver was able to stop safely.

No accidents have been directly linked to the brake systems, and Bendix spokesman Rick Batyko said Saturday that the emergency brake is unaffected by the problem. Batyko said there have been 40 reported incidents of drivers temporarily losing braking power.

The brake system’s electronic control units can “misinterpret” certain signals from the wheels, resulting in the temporary loss of braking capability “in one or more wheel positions,” Thomas Built wrote in an Aug. 30 letter sent to hundreds of school districts nationwide.

The company said repair kits were being manufactured and would be shipped by November. Meanwhile, Freightliner dealerships are prepared to inspect buses 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Nicholson said.

It could not be determined Saturday how many California school districts use the buses.