Bus Driver’s Spotless Record Is Praised

Judy Miller, a bus driver with the Orange County Transportation Authority, was honored Thursday for becoming the first among her ranks to drive 25 years without an accident.

To earn the record, Miller carted 5 million passengers across 1 million miles of Orange County roadway without so much as dinging a car door.

Three drivers have hit her bus but each of them fled. She was never to blame so her record stayed clean.

OCTA officials honored Miller with a special resolution and plaque. Though she is the safest driver, she’s not the most senior. Five others have driven longer, said John Standiford, agency spokesman.

Miller, 49, started her career with South Coast Transit District and the Orange County Transportation Department, both eventually becoming part of OCTA.

She said her favorite part of the job is the people she meets on her South County route.

“I like the people,” she said. “I have a really nice group of people and it’s been fun. I’ve had moms get on with their babies and watched them grow up.”

Miller’s route starts in San Clemente, stops in Laguna Hills, and ends in Santa Ana near the Civic Center.

At the end of each day, she drops her bus off in Irvine and drives eight minutes to her home in Lake Forest, which she shares with dog Bo and cat Petey.

Whenever she goes out on social occasion, others do the driving.

“I usually am the passenger,” she said.