Hudsonville School Bus Driver Wins Michigan Safety Championship

DEARBORN, Mich., June 22 -- Loren Brandt, a driver for the Hudsonville schools, won the 27th Annual Michigan School Bus Driving Championship today at the Valley Plaza Resort in Midland. It is the second year in a row Brandt has won the championship.

The championship competition, sponsored by AAA Michigan and the Michigan Association for Pupil Transportation (MAPT), involved 36 winners of regional competition from throughout the state.

After taking a written exam on bus safety and diagnosing mechanical/electrical bugs deliberately planted on test buses, drivers had to maneuver a 35-foot school bus through a dozen obstacle events.

  Brandt scored an aggregate total 631 points for victory.
  In second place, with 608 points, was Tammy Brown of Lake Orion schools.

Jerry Kinney of St. Matthew Lutheran School in Holt took third place with 597 points.

Brandt's first-place finish earned him an all-expense-paid trip to Minneapolis in July to compete for the national championship.