Inspections by the Georgia State patrol and state Department of Public Safety concluded that the brakes did not fail in a crash of two Newton County school buses on Tuesday. 

According to the Newton County Public School system, the inspection revealed no mechanical defects. The mechanical inspection and the braking (skid) marks left by the bus on the roadway at the collision site eliminate the failure of the braking system or other mechanical defect as the cause of the collision.  

On Tuesday, January 22, 2013, two Newton County school buses were involved in an accident when one school bus collided with another school bus that had stopped to deliver students to their home on Georgia Highway 162.  Officers from the Georgia State Patrol and the Motor Carrier Compliance Division of the Georgia Department of Public Safety have completed a comprehensive mechanical inspection of the school bus that failed to stop.  

According to NCSS, all school buses are inspected annually by the Motor Carrier Compliance Division of the Georgia Department of Public Safety and inspected every twenty days by school system mechanics. Additionally, drivers are required to perform pre-trip inspections prior to transporting students. 

The driver of the school bus which collided with the stopped school bus is currently on medical leave; disciplinary action is pending. The school system is cooperating with the Georgia State Patrol and other investigating agencies. 

The two buses involved in the crash were those covering bus routes 106 and 142 with students from Rocky Plains Elementary School.

Georgia State Patrol's initial report is that the crash occurred when a school bus was stopping to unload passengers on Ga. Highway 162, around Oaks Landing Drive, when it was hit in the rear by a second bus.