Drivers awarded for safe years

safetyawards072: Safe Driver AwardsFifty-four school bus drivers, employed by the Kern County Superintendent of Schools (KCSOS) were honored Aug. 15 in the Sequoia Middle School auditorium in Bakersfield for driving a combined 450 years without being involved in an accident. Each driver received a Safe Driving Pin designating the number of years he or she has driven without an accident. Topping the list were Jane Frando and Julia Hughes, who have not had an accident since KCSOS Transportation Services began driving students to school and home, 26 years ago. The awards were presented by Kern County Superintendent of Schools Larry E. Reider, Associate Superintendent Christine Frazier and Assistant Superintendent, Support Services, Tom Valos.

Transportation Services Director Paul Linder commended the assembled drivers, telling them that the accident rate for KCSOS school bus drivers had dropped by half over the previous year and that all of the accidents were minor and of the non-injury variety. None of the accidents resulted in more than $500 worth of damages to the buses.

Fifteen school bus drivers also received California Highway Patrol (CHP) Safe Driving Certificates from school bus safety officer Mike Reid. Each driver had driven at least 10 years or a minimum of 100,000 miles without a preventable accident.

Reid also had complimentary remarks for the drivers telling them, "You as a group drive a lot more miles than the rest of the districts in the county and their accident rates are higher. You should be proud of your driving record."

Included in the group was David Register who was honored for logging more than a half-million miles (530,288) without a preventable accident.

"I just obey the laws and never go too fast," Register said. "It gives me a lot of pride that I have been able to drive this many miles, making sure that all my student passengers get from point A to point B safely."

The Kern County Superintendent of Schools' fleet of school buses, that transport primarily students with special needs, logged enough miles in 2006-07 to circle the Earth almost 87 times. It averaged less than four accidents for every million miles driven.

Reider closed the ceremonies by making sure every driver knew exactly how important their role was to the mission of transporting students safely to school and home again.

"I honor and trust you, immensely," Reider said. "Parents trust you with their precious cargo, and I take pride every time I see one of our buses traveling by me on a city street. Today, 54 drivers were awarded. I see people here who have driven 26 years without an accident. I see others receiving their first awards for driving a year without an accident. I applaud you both and to the one-year safe drivers I say, 'the journey to 26 years begins with that first year,' don't ever forget how important safe driving is."

2006-07 KCSOS/CHP Safe School Bus Driving Award Recipients

CHP 100,000 Mile Award Recipients
Susan Neufeld - 102,392
Jenene Shears - 102,949
Carolyn Towery - 105,782
La Shun Dickerson - 111,480
Landon Langston - 112,493
Dawn Robles - 123,289
Amabeli Zuniga - 213,462
Stormi Raines - 222,841
Vera Fisher - 226,304
Deanna Harvey - 234,011
Melanie Ogle - 313,192
Robyn Bolin - 365,244
Roseann Rios - 443,520
Tomi Etcheverry - 464,742
David Register - 530,288

KCSOS Years of Safe Driving Awards

1 Year - Lori Mateer, Jon Moule, Marleny Reyes, Dianna Ervin, Dena Aldean and Daniel Beechley
2 Years - Dana Yasin, Landon Langston, Susan Neufeld, La Shun Dickerson and Teresa Coleman
3 Years - Jeri Bozarth, Connie Castruita, Dawn Robles and Lynda Graham
4 Years - Carolyn Towery, Christy Butler, Jenene Shears, Sharon Famie, Sylvia Howell, Ada Thomas and Ronnie Dixon
5 Years - Deanna Harvey and Rebecca Fabbri
6 Years - Amabeli Zuniga, Karen Snyder and Ketra Johnson
7 Years - Vera Fisher
8 Years - Teresa Clark, Keisha Dean, Terri Gamble, Melissa Ramay, Stormi Raines, Terri Rocha, Trish Weedon and John Young
9 Years - Robin Bolin, Cathy Kochanski, Melanie Ogle and Darlene Wood
10 Years - Shirley Wammock
14 Years - Ramona Thomas and Roseann Rios
15 Years - Charlotte Gonzales
18 Years - Becky Bowers, David Register and Tomi Etcheverry
20 Years - Myra Payne
21 Years - Judy Fike
23 Years - Carrie Boschini
25 Years - Sheila Cazares and Pat Jackson
26 Years - Jane Frando and Julia Hughes


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