Drivers compete under pressure in CF Safe Driving Championships

Shearwater, Nova Scotia — Tennis balls fly out from under a bus’s tires and a pylon falls over, as a driver tries to navigate a serpentine obstacle at the Canadian Forces Safe Driving Championships (CFSDC), held May 13–17 on an abandoned runway at 12 Wing Shearwater.

The four-day local and regional competition includes participants from across Land Force Atlantic Area.

Qualified drivers are tested on route discipline, first aid and an obstacle course that pits their skills against a course filled with challenges. One of the challenges, the “Straight Line” test, forces drivers to negotiate their passenger-side wheels between two narrowing rows of tennis balls without squashing the balls.

“It’s a lot harder than it looks. We wouldn’t normally put a bus in that tight a situation in the real world,” says participant Corporal Scott Henderson who works at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Gagetown.

The “Base Shuttle Stop” requires the driver to pull up to a curb where measurements from the curb to the door of the bus are recorded. To add to the pressure in this timed, ten-minute event, drivers lose points for going over time, knocking over pylons and breaking the rules of the road.

“You have to know your distances,” says Cpl Melissa Dubois who also works at CFB Gagetown. “You think it’s easy because you just see it; when you’re in the vehicle, it’s different.”

Event Coordinator Master Warrant Officer Chester Halliday is Fleet Manager in Halifax.  “It’s well worth it to see the level of professionalism and skill that they have,” he says.

The top three contenders in each category are eligible to advance to the nationals, which will be held in Shearwater at the end of August. The CFSDC is open to any qualified driver in the Department of National Defence.

The following are the top three contenders for each of the event categories:

Tractor Trailer 

1. Guy Wardell, Gagetown
2. Cpl Ghislain Lanteigne, Gagetown
3. Richard Boutilier, Halifax

Five-Ton Truck

1. Robert Hawley, Halifax
2. Cpl Kevin Edison, Gagetown
3. Cpl Scott Henderson, Gagetown

Bus

1. Guy Wardell, Gagetown
2. Cpl Gary Spinney, Greenwood
3. Richard Boutilier, Halifax

Heavy Load Vehicle Wheeled

1. Cpl Kevin Edison, Greenwood
2. Cpl Kyle Pelletier, Greenwood
3. Cpl Pierre-Yves Tremblay, Gagetown

Route Discipline

1. Pte Trevor Burchell and Pte Jose Pinto, Greenwood,
2. Pte Matthew Shupe and Pte David Degrace, Gagetown
3. Cfn Savoie and Cfn Kyle Burns, Sydney

Article and photos by Master Corporal David McCord, Canadian Army