By admin 
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — The best school bus drivers in the state were in Raleigh Thursday, showing off for the North Carolina State School Bus Road-E-O.
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The competition is about showing how much drivers know about bus laws and regulations and testing precise driving maneuvers. Drivers are tested on getting through tight spaces, backing up, and even parallel parking.
Drivers with just a few years under their belt and some with as much as 40 years behind the wheel competed. Some of those traveled several hours to compete at the state-level competition.
Every driver wants to take the top prize back to their district, but the contest was ultimately about showing the skill it takes to safely get children to and from school. Drivers don’t stop learning when they earn their CDL license. There is continuing education and testing.
Melvin Davis, area bus coordinator for Johnson County Public Schools, helped organize the event. He says the Road-E-O shows off the skills drivers utilize every day.
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“You can have a major highway or a four-lane roadway, and then they may be on a rural, smaller road where they [only] have the width of a bus. And then they meet other vehicles such as delivery trucks, dump trucks and things along the road,” Davis said.
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Rodney Street, a bus driver with the Wake County Public Schools System, says he drives up to six days a week, so he wasn’t too worried about the competition. He’s driven school buses for about three years, and this is his second year competing at the North Carolina State School Bus Road-E-O.
“The most I love about my job is the children. I do it all for the children because, like, I say to my children on a day-to-day basis, I just do it for fun. I do it for you all, for the kids,” Street said.
A winner from Thursday’s competition will head to the international driving competition in Texas at the end of the month. There is prize money and a trophy for the top finishers at both the state and international level.
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