Winners Named in 2019 Pennsylvania School Bus Driver Safety Competition

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — The Pennsylvania School Bus Association (PSBA) announced on Monday the winners in its 43rd Annual State School Bus Driver Safety Competition, held here on June 21 and 22.

A total of 95 drivers competed in this year’s event (84 in the conventional category and 11 in the transit category), which took place on the grounds of the Mount Nittany Elementary and Middle School.

For the Pennsylvania competition, school bus drivers and competition judges arrived on the evening of Friday, June 22, for an orientation and the driver’s written examination, which was developed for the competition by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. On Saturday morning, the drivers competed in the skills portion of the competition which included a physical and verbal bus inspection; height judgement; diminishing clearance; simulated bus stop; railroad crossings; backing up; and curb line parking.

The following drivers will represent Pennsylvania at the International School Bus Safety Competition, which will be held on July 21, in Austin, Texas.

Conventional Bus Category

Ruth Del Vecchio — DelVecchio, a driver for Krapf School Bus in West Chester, has competed in a total of 10 state competitions, having finished first in the 2015 state competition. This will mark her second trip to the international event.

Larry Hannon Jr. — Hannon is a driver for Centennial School District. He has competed in six state competitions, achieving the highest written score at the state competitions in 2015, 2017, and 2018. This will be Hannon’s first appearance at the international level.

Transit Bus Category

Cheryl Vogelsang — Vogelsang, a driver for On the Go Kids located in Downingtown, has participated in numerous state competitions, including achieving a second-place finish in 2017. This will be her eighth time competing at the international event.

Jim O’Toole – O’Toole, a driver for the Haverford Township School District, has competed in over 11 state competitions. This will mark his second trip to the international competition.

“This competition is all about these drivers who represent the best from across Pennsylvania,” said Dallas Krapf, chair of the safety competition committee. “They trained hard and competed locally to make it here. We congratulate and wish our winners the best of luck as they move on to Austin for the International Competition. I want to also thank all our volunteers and event sponsors who help make this event such a success.”

The complete results of this year’s competition can be found on the PSBA website.