Pace's suburban Million Milers keep it safe

If you're looking for a smooth ride, hop onto Bob Freddo's Pace bus.

The Pace 2 Million Miler award recipient is among an elite group of professional drivers who have hit a career milestone.

Freddo, a 63-year-old from Des Plaines, has 29 years of safe driving. In those three decades, he's seen everything from historic blizzards to loopy drivers to a manhunt for a robber.

The suburban bus company recently recognized 19 employees inducted into the National Safety Council Million Mile Club. Going 12½ years without a preventable accident is considered equal to 1 million miles while 25 years without incident is equated with 2 million miles.

Freddo credits his success to luck and "just being careful."

His luck and common sense were essential in 1979 during the notorious blizzard that cost Chicago Mayor Michael Bilandic his job and left about 19 inches of snow in the area.

"I remember being stuck on Cumberland Avenue, south of the Kennedy Expressway," Freddo said. "I was due back in the garage at 4 p.m. and I think I got in around 6:30 or 7 p.m. The road was so icy going up the hill over the expressway, cars couldn't make it up."

When Freddo started driving a bus 38 years ago, traffic flow was nothing compared to now. "People are so impatient to get to nowhere - but it's just 'meet you at the next red light,'" he said jokingly.

Freddo's encountered several cranks over the decades including the bus-hating motorist.

While on his route in northwest Cook County, he noticed a car that kept slowing down and stopping in front of his bus. When Freddo tried to pass, the driver would speed up, then inexplicably stop again.

"When I got to a stoplight, he got out of the car and said, 'I want you to know what it feels like to have a vehicle stop in front of you every block,'" Freddo recounted.

"I said, 'you can stop all you want sir, I'm getting paid for this.'"

Then there was the fender-bender culprit in denial.

While at a stop, an elderly man rear-ended Freddo's bus. Freddo went back to speak with the driver who declared, "it's not my fault" and refused to exchange information with him. A police officer arrived and also interviewed the driver. "The cop came back with a big smile on his face and said, 'the guy's got a point. If the bus hadn't been there, he wouldn't have hit you.'"

Over the years, Freddo's rescued wallets and purses, blocked lanes with his bus to prevent cars from reaching a child that ran out onto a busy street and watched an armed policeman search his bus for an escaped convenience store robber. Fortunately, the suspect wasn't on the bus.

Freddo likes the job because, "basically you're your own boss. You're in charge of the bus."

Janet Dexter is following on Freddo's heels with 17 years of safe driving and a 1 Million Miler award to her credit.

A Chicago resident, Dexter said her stellar track record is a "spiritual" thing and she credits God as her "pilot."

Like Freddo, she's had her share of wallet retrievals and eccentric travelers.

One encounter that warmed her heart occurred when a man in his 80s boarded her bus. Halfway through the route, he stood up and asked if she was stopping at Laramie Avenue. Dexter warned him it was dangerous to stand and promised to take him to Laramie.

"When we arrived, he got up and walked over to me and said, 'I think I'm in love.' That just melted my heart."

A less friendly encounter was with a woman driving a luxurious white, antique car just ahead of Dexter.

While Dexter was stopped for passengers, the woman exited her car, approached the bus and said, "I wish you would go around me because of the bus fumes. They're blowing on my car."

Dexter said the folks on her bus aren't just commuters. "My passengers are my extended family."

<p class="factboxheadblack">Here's a list of local 2010 Pace Million Miler recipients.</p>

<p class="News">• <b>Arthur Napolillo</b> of Lombard - 1 Million Miler</p>

<p class="News">• <b>Joyce Williams</b> of Aurora - 2 Million Miler</p>

<p class="News">• <b>Egbert Gentle</b> of Carol Stream - 1 Million Miler</p>

<p class="News">• <b>Leonard Smith</b> of Waukegn - 1 Million Miler</p>

<p class="News">• <b>Eugene Jones</b> of Bensenville - 1 Million Miler</p>

<p class="News">• <b>Michael Smolenski </b>of Algonquin - 2 Million Miler</p>

<p class="News">• <b>Michael Brown</b> of Des Plaines - 2 Million Miler</p>