Brent Carman didn’t capture another world title, but the Morgan
Hill Unified School District driver came away with a seventh-place
finish at the NSTA International School Bus Driver Safety
Competition.
GREENSBORO, N.C.
Brent Carman didn’t capture another world title, but the Morgan Hill Unified School District driver came away with a seventh-place finish at the NSTA International School Bus Driver Safety Competition.
It wasn’t bad, considering Carman was making his NSTA debut in the conventional bus category. He scored 646 out of a possible 775 points, including 146 on the 200-point written exam. Larry Hannon of Warminster, Pa., scored 677 to win the division.
The 39th annual event, held July 18-19 in Greensboro, N.C., features the top bus drivers in the world. They partake in several elementary skills tests that score turning, braking, signaling, backing up and inline driving.
There were 56 contestants in the conventional division.
“Overall, I feel pretty good,” Carman, a four-time International “Bus Roadeo” champion, said Wednesday. “To be within 31 points of tying for first, it was really good. I was happy to be top 10. That’s OK for someone with very little experience. I should have scored higher.”
Carman was hoping his beginner’s luck would carry over from last year, when he won the small bus division title in his first running. He knew he was in trouble from the start, though, after he found out the conventional drivers had to compete in a 37-foot bus.
Carman trained with a 29-footer.
“It’s a big difference in dimensions,” he said. “The distance between wheels and axles was different; the mirrors were different. … I couldn’t even see my tires in some of the events. I think it cost me 20 points.”
Carman still has a 2009 conventional state title to celebrate — not that awards are his priority. The 48-year-old takes pride in being one of the safest drivers on the planet.
“It’s always about safety,” he said. “I’ve been driving all my life since I got out of high school. I take a lot of pride in being safe.
“When a friend told me about the International Competition about 23 years ago, I had to do it.”
Carman has been doing ever since. The only bad part about the Roadeo is when drivers stop doing it, Carman said.
“You get pretty close with the other drivers. We go head to head, but we’re all friends,” he added.
Carman said the competition saved him from injury several years ago. He was driving up a hill on Uvas Road when he sounded his horn to warn any oncoming drivers. The move paid off.
“A car came right at me and stopped inches of hitting my bus,” he said. “If I hadn’t laid on my horn, she would have taken the whole side. She slid a good 30 feet.”
