Bus driver is three million miles perfect

Date: 11/10/2008

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor



SPRINGFIELD Everett Anderson has achieved something few people in his profession ever reach -- the Peter Pan Bus Lines driver has driven three million miles without an accident.

Honored with a lunch on Wednesday, Peter Pan President Peter A. Picknelly explained Anderson's designation has been reach by only two other drivers in the Northeast.

Picknelly said three million miles is the equivalent of going to the moon 12.5 times or circling the globe 120 times.

Anderson joined the company in 1970 and has been driving for the company 38 years. Picknelly said that for a driver to approach such a record he or she must drive for at least 35 years.

Anderson told Reminder Publications with a smile, "It doesn't seem like 38 years."

Picknelly remembered riding buses as a 10-year-old driven by Anderson and noted his own children are being driven by Anderson.

Anderson has received a number of awards for his service from the company, including the Peter C. Picknelly Award for Excellence. He was saluted at the breakfast meeting of Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield on Wednesday and then presented with a singular honor -- his name and achievement noted on the side of one of the company's buses.

Anderson said he has seen many change in how people drive over the years and said that cell phones have not helped safety on the road.

The scariest incident he has recently seen was a driver who was typing on his laptop computer balanced on his steering wheel while driving.

"I've see it all," he said.

He is not interested in retiring and said all of those years on the road "just kind of creep up on you."