AAA WCNY Fleet technicians took part in this year’s Fleet Safety Rodeo this week at the Hamburg Fairgrounds outside Buffalo and the CNY Salina Industrial Power Park in Syracuse.

Fleet technicians gathered at the Hamburg Fairgrounds on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. They were at the CNY Salina Industrial Power Park on Thursday and Friday.

During the week-long event fleet technicians visited educational stations for information on safety and technical topics and tested their driving skills on a closed interactive driving course.

Riding with the fleet technicians and coaching them as they navigated the driving course was Richard Chidester, Lead Instructor for Driver Training from the AAA National Office in Florida.

“The Club is really investing in safety,” Chidester explained. “We bring the drivers out. We put them through some collision avoidance training and some of these exercises are proven with this Club to actually save lives.”

Fleet technicians were asked to perform three tasks behind the wheel of their chosen vehicle – including wreckers/tow trucks, light service, and flat beds. 

First, they drove forward at a high rate of speed through a cone serpentine obstacle course. They were then instructed to slowly drive in reverse through the same course. This simulated avoiding an object in the road. 

Then they performed a block lane maneuver where Chidester instructed the technician to veer left or right at the last possible second to avoid a blocked lane of cones. 

Finally, the technician had to navigate a U-turn box without knocking over any of the tightly placed cones.

“It challenges their vision and their reaction time,” Chidester said. “One of the things we tell technicians is don’t look at the cones. Keep your eyes up high. This way you get a much broader picture of the driving scene.”

Chidester has been teaching technicians these accident avoidance and vehicle maneuvering techniques for 28 years. “If we can teach them one thing to walk away with and prevent an incident then the day is a success.”

Steve Steinmetz, AAA WCNY Senior Director of Automotive Services Operations, is pleased the Club was able to bring back the Safety Rodeo events after a three-year hiatus.

“The focus is road safety, which is what AAA is all about, and to be able to anticipate and react to situations that come up in our day-to-day driving on the roads,” he said. “Another part of it is to give back to our associates who put in a lot of time out there on the roads in all kinds of weather all year round, and gives us an opportunity to say thank you, have a little food, share some additional safety tips.”

Sarah Mascho and Art Yates were two of the WNY Fleet technicians who tackled the driving course.

“It was definitely nerve-racking a little bit because you had to be quick,” Mascho said. “It was a very great experience. It really was.”

“It gets your mind going,” said Yates. “Doing something like this you’re going at a higher rate of speed than you would normally on the road so this helps you understand your truck a lot better.”

Joe Magowan and McKenzie Happle were two of the CNY Fleet technicians to first try out the driving course.

“The first time going through the course, you’re a little hesitant because you’re not sure what you’re about to experience. But once you go through it once, you want to try again and really test your limits,” Magowan said. “The best thing is that you’re learning the limits of the vehicle you’re driving and learning your own reaction times.”

“This definitely felt more like offensive driving than defensive, because you’re going through the course fast and making snap decisions,” Happle said. “This is definitely going to help in a real-world scenario, especially on the highways where you may need to make instant changes to maneuver your vehicle safely.” 

Educational stations were set up adjacent to the driving course. AAA WCNY Assistant Safety Manager Corally Munoz was at one of the stations explaining the dangers of blood borne pathogens and the importance of using personal protective equipment or PPE.

“It’s very important for them to be trained about this because they are exposed to other people,” Munoz said. “Blood borne pathogens cover and protect for if you are exposed to Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and HIV. It’s very important that they understand that they can be exposed and how to prevent that using their PPE.”

At the heart of the Fleet Safety Rodeo is serving AAA members safely.

“If we’re stuck on the road side being involved in a motor vehicle accident we can’t service our members,” said AAA WCNY Director of Property Management and Safety Brent Dahlhaus. “We want to be able to get there safely and efficiently.”

Learn more about AAA’s automotive services or request roadside assistance.

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