This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Bob Curtis and Dale Brady have driven Utah Transit Authority buses more than 3 million miles each since either caused an avoidable traffic accident — safe-driving stretches spanning more than three decades.

That is equivalent to driving to the moon 13 times each without an accident. Or driving around the equator 120 times each safely. Or driving between Los Angeles and New York 1,219 times each.

For that, UTA gives them a special patch for their uniform and a $1,500 bonus — which comes out to 1/20th of a penny for each safe mile driven.

"You'd always accept more, but it's something — and nice," said Brady, of West Jordan.

"It takes about 30 years to earn this award," said UTA spokesman Gerry Carpenter. "UTA is only 40 years old, so some of our more senior drivers are starting to earn it." He adds that relatively few transit drivers nationally are able to achieve that plateau.

Curtis, of Midvale, said it came despite some moments of sheer terror and close calls on the road through the years.

"That includes trying to go up a snowy hill, but sliding backwards down it three times — and not being able to stop. It was intense," said Curtis, who has been a UTA driver for 36 years, and now drives on routes 232 and 209.

Brady, who has been a UTA driver for 35 years and drives now on routes 47 and 41, said, "I've been hit several times when it wasn't avoidable, at least by me. Usually, it's when I'm stopped to pick up passengers and someone rear-ends me. Sometimes they clip my mirrors and take them off. Sometimes they stop, and sometimes they don't."

Both confess to accidents that were at least partially their fault early in their careers before their 3 million-mile streaks began.

Curtis remembers trying to stop on a snowy Holladay road when the brakes locked, and his bus slid through an intersection and hit a utility pole. The pole hooked his bus in such a way to stop it just before it would have slid into a service station propane tank that he says may have blown up his bus.

"That was the most interesting one," he said, perhaps showing some of the motivation behind going the next3 million miles accident-free.

Brady remembers coming to work early one day, and taking a short nap before starting his route at 5 a.m. "I dreamt about the accident that I would have later that day. It was accurate in every detail," but he would not recognize it in time to stop it.

It came when he tried to pass a parking-enforcement Jeep. When he tried to return to his lane, the Jeep swung wide before making a right turn, and the mirror on the bus destroyed the Jeep's roof. "We were both cited as being partially at fault," he said.

Both Brady and Curtis have interesting strategies to keep calm in traffic.

"I don't honk when people do something stupid. I just go, 'Yeah, whatever,' " Curtis said. "All that honking does is raise my blood pressure, and theirs."

Brady says he memorizes and recites poetry to himself, mainly favorites of his father, who died young in a car accident. "That has helped me a lot," he said.

Somewhat similarly, Curtis says he helps keep his cool in traffic by writing in his head poetry and even a novel, which he later had published.

"The novel is called Face of Stone. It's a fantasy take-off on the Sleeping Beauty theme. ... The hero has to kiss a 3,000-year-old corpse," he said, showing perhaps that he indeed has some deep, dark thoughts while dodging traffic.

Both said that their favorite part of the job is their passengers.

"There are some pretty interesting people," Brady said. "The more different people are from me, the more interested I am in them."

Curtis said, "My favorite part is talking to people. That's why I never went over to TRAX [light rail], because there's a divider there between the passengers and you can't talk to people."

Both said being a bus driver has had hidden benefits for them.

"When I found this job, I thought I would just take it until I found a 'real job.' After a while, I quit looking for another job because I was having too much fun. I like being out. I like to see nature, and wild birds and animals. I see the sunrise every morning," Curtis said.

Brady added that he has enjoyed the job security, and an income that allowed his wife to stay home and raise their children. "It's one of the few jobs where the worse the economy is, the more secure your job is. To have a secure job through the economically difficult times has really taken a lot of stress and worry off." Even in crazy traffic.