Bus operator wins Safe Driver of the Year Award for Pacific Region

Val Quill, left, and her son Damien Sabado.

Val Quill, Kitsap Transit’s most senior bus operator, has been selected as the 2022 Joseph M. Kaplan Safe Driver of the Year for the Pacific Region by the National Safety Council. The award recognizes outstanding drivers who have driven a significant number of miles and years behind the wheel without incurring a preventable crash.

Quill, who joined Kitsap Transit in 1985, was named by the Safety Council as the top driver in the Pacific Region, which covers Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington.

Quill has racked up many accomplishments and honors at Kitsap Transit, including 11 Driver of the Month awards and Driver of the Year in 2004. She’s a regular bus roadeo competitor at local, state and international levels.

“Val sets the highest standard of excellence for our Kitsap Transit operators,” said John Clauson, Executive Director of Kitsap Transit. “In addition to her safe driving record, she’s a reliable, friendly face to our customers and dedicated employee who shares her wisdom and expertise with fellow operators. We’re proud of her accomplishments and doubly proud that she is being honored with this national safety award.”

Nominees for the Joseph M. Kaplan Safe Driver of the Year award must be full-time drivers whose primary responsibility is operating buses, trucks, passenger cars or other motor vehicles and meet the minimum requirement of 15 years or 250,000 miles driven without a preventable incident.

Quill’s mother was a Kitsap Transit bus operator, as is her son, Damien Sabado. Quill mentors new driver trainees and has been a volunteer firefighter for Central Kitsap Fire & Rescue for 39 years. Last year the Washington State Transit Insurance Pool (WSTIP) recognized Quill’s more than 35 years of consecutive safe driving.

Quill was surprised by this week’s news that she was receiving a national safe driving award.

“It seems unbelievable to me,” she said. “There are a lot of good drivers out there.”

In September – the same month she turns 62 – Quill will join top drivers from the nine other geographic regions at a National Awards Celebration in San Diego. She will receive a personalized medallion and custom-made etched crystal award.

Quill shares the secrets of her success with her mentees, including this one: “The main thing is I leave a lot of room between the bus and the vehicles in front of me.”