(RALEIGH) -- The North Carolina Department of Transportation holds an event every year designed to test safety awareness and skill levels of its employees. It is the state "Roadeo" competition, and it was held Wednesday at the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh.

Jay Lewis, a safety officer for the DOT and a judge for the truck event, said that the "Roadeo" is an important event. "This is something I think very highly of.  I think it's something that needs to be done because safety is first and we need to look at safety all around the state, not just in DOT but everywhere because motor vehicle accidents, and different things that are happening on the highway, we want to make sure that our employees are safe and go home to their families each and every day," said Lewis.

In the truck event, competitors were required to drive backwards, coming as close as possible to a barrier without hitting it. For the backhoe event, competitors were required to pick up five golf balls from a dirt-filled container, and drop them into five cylinders.