CCRTA Partners with Del Mar College for Defensive Driving Trainings

In order to keep riders and the community safe the Corpus Christi Regional Transportation Authority (CCRTA) is always looking to approach defensive driving training in numerous ways. The CCRTA was able to participate in an 8-hour training program with a partnership through Del Mar College whose been awarded a 30,000 grant for this program.

“I am always excited to partner with another entity, because they give us a different prospective from our current training program,” said Robert Saldana, director of transportation.

The training helped reinforce certain aspects of safety while teaching operators new skills through different technologies.

Another aspect included in the training was a defensive driving video. “The video taught us that when we’re distracted we have only 40% brain attention,” said Natalie Grady, transportation supervisor. “We also went over the proper way to adjust our seats for maximum visibility.” Training videos also went over passenger safety and discussed how having good vision is not enough, but knowing how to use it will help prevent accidents.

“The highlight of our day was getting the chance to experience various road conditions on a Virage Simulator, out of Oklahoma manufactured for buses and trucks,” said Grady. Virage Simulation developed an innovative simulator-based driver-training program for bus drivers. The comprehensive program includes over a dozen training scenarios covering all aspects of bus driving, from basic operations of warning lights and controls, to simple and complex parking maneuvers, to full practice routines of boarding and exiting riders.