South & West Wales - De a Gorllewin Cymru

Peter's Safe Driving Earns him a Medal.

PETER Nedin (63), who has lived and worked in Swansea all his life, has been awarded a special medal by First Cymru in recognition of both his long service with the company and his skills as a safe driver.

Peter, who lives in St Thomas in Swansea, became a bus driver in 1969 and now works part time for First Cymru. In the 40 years he's worked for the company he has never been involved in any form of accident " despite clocking up almost a million miles since he started all those years ago.

As Tony McNiff, Managing Director of First Cymru explains, it's an achievement to be very proud of: "We have a number of very safe drivers within First Cymru and we annually recognise those with five or more years, but this is the first time I've had the honour of presenting a medal for 40 years.

"Peter is a credit both to himself and this company. Not many people can say that they have a 40 year safe driving record, particularly when they drive for a living, clocking up far more miles than the average person. Well done Peter!"

Peter's love of buses began at an early age. He explains: "When I was a boy I lived down the road from the owner of a local coach company. I'd often see him around, and I was really interested in his job. The day he let me sit in one of his coaches " letting me pretend to be the driver " changed my life. From then on I knew that I'd drive for a living; I'd even pretend to be the bus driver in the school playground, picking up the other children on my imaginary bus and taking them for a ride.

"When I was old enough the same man, the same man who originally inspired by love of driving - Tom Morris - put me through my driver training, and I began to work for him. In 1969 I joined the United Welsh Bus Company as a driver, and subsequently worked for First.

"I've driven lots of different routes in my time, including many around Gower and Swansea. These days I tend to work on the school and college services in Swansea, but I still get the same thrill every time I go out on the road.

"Being a bus driver is great. You meet such an array of people every day and once you're behind the wheel you're your own boss. There's such a freedom associated with being on the open road, you can't really describe it."

Peter's modesty means he plays down the fact that he has 40 years safe driving under his belt, simply stating that his does his best every time he goes out on the road, trying to anticipate what other road users are going to do, before they do it; this, he says, is the secret of his success.