By Lisa Chmelecki,Staff Writer
Two former state license examiners quit their jobs, start program aimed at creating better drivers

MINOT – Larry Bushey was on the job for a month when it happened the first time. It was an 8 a.m. test, a 17-year-old applying for his motorcycle license.

Bushey followed in a car, beeping his horn once for a right turn and twice for left.

The driver remembered to use his blinkers. He was able to stop on a hill. He didn’t speed. He checked his side mirrors before changing lanes.

At 8:15 a.m., with everything on the state’s standard list checked off, the teen got his motorcycle license – even though Bushey had a feeling he wasn’t quite ready.

“You can’t test attitude,” the former state license examiner said.

Less than an hour later, Bushey was running an errand in downtown Waterville when he saw the teen’s body sprawled on pavement surrounded by paramedics and flashing lights. He was dead.

For the next 18 years, Bushey avoided reading newspaper stories about car and motorcycle accidents. He was too afraid he’d recognize the names. Craig McCabe, another former license examiner, did the same.

“You’d try to tell yourself, It wasn’t my fault,'” McCabe said. “But part of you said, Maybe I missed something. Maybe I could have found a way to fail him.'”

Obligation to mankind’

Eventually, the job – three driving tests an hour, eight hours a day – got to be too much for them. Bushey, who lives in Winslow, quit after 18 years; McCabe, who lives in Minot, after 12.

“I started asking myself, What’s my obligation to mankind?'” Bushey said. “I decided I owe society more than just standing on the side watching people die.”

The two men worked together for several months to create a program for people interested in becoming better drivers.

An E.M.W. Driving Excitement course offers everything from tips on what to eat before a long drive to information on state laws and regulations. It costs $150 for 10 hours of classroom instruction.

State law prohibits Bushey and McCabe from offering points off driver’s licenses or discounts on car insurance. The men simply promise more relaxed driving experiences and a better chance of surviving on the road.

Grand visions

About a month ago, the two men reserved the Augusta Civic Center for 10 hours on Friday night and Saturday. They spent $1,000 advertising the course.

Nobody showed up.

Now, they are waiting for people to call them. Neither has lost hope.

“The only thing that keeps us going is our responsibility to our fellow man,” Bushey said. “If driving continues the way it has over the past 20 years, we’re all in trouble.”

McCabe and Bushey have collected statistics that show how the accident rate went up after double-strap seat belts were installed in cars, then again with the invention of airbags.

“What if cars were made with knives sticking out of the steering wheels? What do you think would happen to the accident rate, then?” Bushey said, raising his voice. “Accidents happen by choice, not by chance.”

The men have grand visions.

They imagine a room full of people discussing what they like and dislike about driving. They want truck drivers to chat with people who avoid the highway because they are terrified of the big rigs.

They hope to encourage people to become better drivers and to avoid road rage by having the same attitude on the road that they have in other social settings.

“You wouldn’t stand behind somebody in a line at a buffet at a wedding reception and yell, Move it. Move it,'” Bushey said. “But people do that on the road all of the time.”