For Gerald Cameron, the secret is in the mirrors.

Every morning, before he pilots his 18-ton, 40-foot-long bus through some of the most congested roads in America, he checks those mirrors for blind spots like a surgeon inspecting a scalpel.

"My mirrors are the lifeline," NJ Transit’s safest bus driver said during a break on a run from Dumont to the George Washington Bridge bus terminal. "I have to make sure my mirrors are set right. If not, I’m going to have accidents."

Not that having accidents is something he would know about.

Cameron has received a commendation for going 30 years without one — a feat all the more impressive when you consider his route.

"He is a George Washington Bridge operator on a route that has a fairly large local component, so he’s bucking traffic in the most densely populated part of this world every single day, morning, rush-hour time," said Joyce Gallagher, NJ Transit’s vice president and general manager of bus operations.

NJ Transit estimates that Cameron has logged about 825,000 miles over the years — enough to make it to the moon and back and there again.

You won’t hear Gallagher refer to Cameron and his colleagues as bus drivers. She calls them operators, because of the difficulty of their job.

"You and I drive," she said. "They have the customer service interface, which is enormous. They have to collect fares. They have to be able to answer questions for people. They have to know our fare structure, which is very complicated. They have to know all of our operating rules and regulations, all the ADA rules and regulations. And they are operating a sophisticated piece of equipment, which they need to understand completely."

NJ Transit bus driver Gerald Cameron has gone 30 years and 825,000 miles without an accident. If that isn't enough, he also thwarted two purse-snatchings.

During a break from driving — or operating — Cameron, 52, has an easygoing personality and infectious cackle. He enjoys the simple pleasures of life — fishing, a good cigar, tidying up his home.

"He’s the best," said regular passenger Suzanne Sturgeon of Englewood Cliffs. "That (safety award) is amazing — especially in New Jersey. He’s very, very professional. Always has a smile. I just feel really safe."

While he’s driving, Cameron is all business. A packed bus can hold 66 passengers, and Cameron feels responsible for every one.

"They’re putting their lives in my hands, so I have to be alert," he said.

As passengers flick through their smart phones and the stops and town names are displayed on a digital sign over his head, Cameron stays focused on the road and those carefully adjusted mirrors.

Like a running back with exceptional field vision, he tries to anticipate traffic patterns and can almost see them developing in slow motion in front of him.

"Within a second, somebody could cut in front of you," he said. "Something could blow off of a truck. Something could be on a highway. I mean, you constantly have to be paying attention. Constantly."

To think that driving buses started out as what he thought would be a temporary second job in 1982 to try to get himself out of debt.

Cameron watched the pride the older guys at that time took in their jobs, with their uniforms pressed, shoes shined and their talk of winning clocks for safety awards.

At 10 years without an accident, he received a watch and set his sights on the clock. At 20 years, he instead received a silver ring, which he considered a bit of a letdown at the time.

Surely, at 30 years, he would receive a clock, right?

Nope. Another ring, this time a gold one.

That’s when garage supervisor Dorothy Booker explained to him that the ring was more personal and easier to display.

"You’re going to look kind of funny walking around with a big clock, showing everybody," he remembered her saying.

What started out as a second job in 1982 has turned into a fulfilling career for NJ Transit bus driver Gerald Cameron.

"Now the ring means everything — I prefer the ring to the clock now," Cameron said. "This ring means I’m part of a special group of people. Thirty years is the goal. It’s like the Super Bowl ring."

Cameron was the only 30-year safety winner this year, and there has only been one 40-year award winner in memory, a now-retired employee who won it around 2000.

Getting ready to retire as a driver — other bus routes over the years included the 190, 171, 175, 145, 146 and 703 lines — he hopes to land a part-time job with NJ Transit.

"It’s just an awesome company to work for," said Cameron, who considers being invited to last month’s NJ Transit board meeting by Executive Director Jim Weinstein a career highlight.

"To have someone on his level to invite me — a bus driver — to a board meeting with all of the important people, that was awesome," Cameron said.

Weinstein seemed just as excited to be in Cameron’s company, calling his safety record an "astonishing and awesome accomplishment."

You can add crime fighter to the list of Cameron’s job skills.

In October 2005, he ran down a thief who broke into a car in Paterson and stole a local schoolteacher’s purse. Cameron, who had just dropped off passengers, heard the teacher’s calls for help and chased after the thief, detaining him until an off-duty detective arrived. He was honored with a resolution from former state Sen. John Girgenti.

About two years earlier, one of his regular passengers had her pocketbook snatched from behind as she tried to board a bus on 33rd Street in Manhattan.

Cameron said the woman reminded him of his mother — who died in a horrific traffic accident in 1998, along with Gerald Cameron’s grandmother, uncle and two first cousins.

He said he popped the brakes and ran after the thief, holding him until police arrived.

"This is someone that was going to need help, was getting violated and I was there to help them — that’s all," he said. "To me, it was no big deal."

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