CME Driver Safety Training

Colorado Mountain Express (CME) operates 220 vehicles which travel 9.3 million miles annually, transporting visitors to and from Colorado’s beautiful mountain resort communities. CME wants each of those miles to be as comfortable and safe as possible, and that’s why they require all their drivers to take a two-week course with the Center for Transportation Safety.

Colorado’s State Patrol offers their expertise and advice during the training, where drivers navigate 10- passenger vans through a series of stations in a circuit course and also prepare for a written exam. From vehicle orientation—which includes checking mirrors, ensuring ski racks are secure—to emergency braking exercises, potential drivers are rigorously trained to be more alert, careful and skillful drivers. Learning to make sudden stops and weaving in and out of cones without knocking them over at a three-lane course in a 10-passenger van are all in a day’s training for these drivers. “Skid van” technology also incorporates lessons on training drivers to control a skid if the vehicle slides on a patch of ice and they need to come to an emergency stop safely.

Along with the Center for Transportation training, drivers also attend winter driving schools around the state. In the classroom and behind the wheel, drivers learn all the best techniques for keeping their passengers safe. “Training reminds you what we all learned in high school Physics – that gravity wins,” said Tom Ball, Executive Vice President of Colorado Mountain Express. “The idea that you incorporate reduction of speed as conditions change – that makes you a much safer driver. That’s what was driven home for me during my own training.”

Colorado Mountain Express believes driver safety training is the answer to providing a safe, comfortable ride for guests and their families to and from Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. Visit www.ridecme.com or call (970) 926-9800/(800) 525-6363 for more information or to make a reservation.