Wanda Ely may not be able to rope a steer but she showed she could hold her own when it comes to steering a bus on Friday, May 6 at the Bus Safety Road-e-o for Floyd County Schools. Ely took first place in the annual competition that tests the skill and driving knowledge of school bus drivers on a range course. The Road-e-o event took place in the parking lot across from the Board of Education office on Riverside Parkway.  Ely is a returning champion having won the event in 2011.


Participating school bus drivers were asked to drive a bus through an obstacle course designed to simulate difficult driving situations that might be faced on the road. The drivers were awarded points for successfully completing each section of the course.  Ely, a driver from the Pepperell attendance area, tallied a total of 392 out of 400 possible points in the competition.

Dewey Thomas, also a driver in the Pepperell area, placed second with 388 points. Pepperell area drivers swept the top three spots in the Road-e-o as Jennifer Pegg placed third with a point total of 337. (See the list below for the top ten drivers in this year’s competition.)

The top two drivers in the competition are eligible to participate in the Georgia School Bus Safety Road-e-o to be held June 8 – 9, in Houston County.  If one of the first two drivers can’t compete at state, the next driver in order of finish will be eligible to participate.  The first and second place winners at the state level will be eligible to participate with the best drivers in North America in International competition to be held this summer.

Bus drivers from Floyd County Schools have a history of strong finishes in Bus Safety Road -e-o events at the state and international level. Floyd County drivers have finished first in the district, state, and international competitions. 

At the conclusion of the event, RA-LIN and Associate representative Andrew Stewart presented a check to the bus drivers helping to fund the Bus Safety Road-e-o competition.