As we have been discussing on this blog for the last few days, the U.S. House of Representatives, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, held hearings on July 24 on medically unfit truckers. Click here for the hearing information. In this blog, we will discuss some examples of commercial drivers with medical conditions and why these are dangerous.
The GAO found numerous CDL drivers with serious medical conditions. One was a bus driver from Florida that continued to have a CDL and was being hired as a substitute bus driver. This man receives disability benefits for breathing problems that require him to use three daily inhalers and that he claims he, “occasionally blacks outs and forgets things.” This man should not be driving because he could have a breathing problem while on the road and black out. Further, this guy does not have a medical certificate which is required by the DOT to continue to have an active CDL.
Another case was a truck driver from Florida that receives a disability for multiple sclerosis who hauls circus equipment to different shows. Not only does this driver not have the required medical certificate, his medical condition causes fatigue and this can be very dangerous with a driver that travels all over the U.S. The driver could fall asleep and cause a major accident. Without a medical certificate it is impossible to know if the driver has any other conditions that would make him a very dangerous CDL driver to put on the road.
Another disturbing account was a truck driver in Maryland who receives a disability for being 100 percent deaf received a CDL license. The medical examiner claimed that this was an error. This obviously very dangerous for obvious reasons.
Many disabilities can affect an individual’s ability to be a commercial driver. While as advocates for the injured we would have to agree with the DOT that not all disabilities make someone exempt from receiving a CDL license, there are several disabilities, like fatigue, complete deafness and breathing problems that raise serious doubt on whether an individual is fit to have a CDL.
Fatigue is a perfect example. The bulk of trucker related regulations, focus on preventing fatigue. See http://semi-accident.com/fatigue.html To enforce those regulations while allowing someone who has abnormal fatigue to get a CDL, is incongruous. Would not a simple cross referencing of Federal Government data bases eliminate this problem? While Social Security does allow for certain trial returns to work, clearly those returns (if they involve a CDL) should be monitored with the same degree of zeal that the Social Security Administration too often uses to deny deserving people’s benefits.
Each year 5,300 people die and 126,000 people are injured in accidents involving commercial drivers and twelve percent of these accidents are caused by a CDL driver having fatigue, heart attack or a physical impairment. It is important for the DOT to take CDL licensing seriously and consider more thorough evaluations.
In our next blog, we examine the specific requirements to receive a CDL and the NTSB’s recommendations.
GAO Report Criticizes Oversight of Medically Unfit Truckers
As discussed in our previous blog, the U.S. House of Representatives, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, held hearings on July 24 on medically unfit truckers. Click here for the hearing information. Included in the hearing documentation was a GAO (Government Accountability Office) report on this issue. That report discussed in length such concerns. Our next several blogs will detail the findings of that report, GAO Report to Congressional Requesters: Commercial Drivers Certification Process for Drivers with Serious Medical Conditions.
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08826.pdf
GAO did this study for the Department of Transportation (DOT) to assess how many drivers with a CDL ( Commercial Drivers License) who are medically unfit, are still driving with a CDL. Since those with CDLs are licensed to drive large vehicles, including semi tractor-trailers, it is important to know that the DOT is doing everything possible to insure that CDL drivers are not putting other vehicles in danger because of their serious medical conditions. For this reason, the DOT has specific medical rules for individuals who are obtaining a CDL license or who hope to maintain their license.
The GAO analysis found some disturbing information about the medical conditions of thousands of drivers who have a CDL. Working with the Department of Veterans Affairs and Labor (VA), Social Security Administration (SSA) and Office of Personnel Management, the GAO found that approximately half a million individuals who have a CDL were eligible for full disability benefits. Allowing these individuals who have been deemed unable to work, to drive a commercial sized vehicle, could be risky and dangerous.
In theory, qualifying for a full disability should involve an objective determination that an individual is unfit to work and even more so, drive a commercial vehicle. The government sends experts to look at a claimant’s medical files, hospital documents, may require a special evaluation and analyzes past relevant job history. When the government confirms that an individual is fully disabled, this should mean that an individual would be a poor candidate to engage in the activities of a commercial driver.
This government website lists many of the conditions that determine whether you are disabled and the basic guidelines that determine your ability.
http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10053.html
While as brain injury advocates, we are always striving to rehabilitate our clients, such rehabilitation cannot involve vocations that put both the disabled person and the general public at risk. Our next blog will provide examples from the GAO report of those using a CDL license, despite seriously disabling conditions.
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08826.pdf
GAO did this study for the Department of Transportation (DOT) to assess how many drivers with a CDL ( Commercial Drivers License) who are medically unfit, are still driving with a CDL. Since those with CDLs are licensed to drive large vehicles, including semi tractor-trailers, it is important to know that the DOT is doing everything possible to insure that CDL drivers are not putting other vehicles in danger because of their serious medical conditions. For this reason, the DOT has specific medical rules for individuals who are obtaining a CDL license or who hope to maintain their license.
The GAO analysis found some disturbing information about the medical conditions of thousands of drivers who have a CDL. Working with the Department of Veterans Affairs and Labor (VA), Social Security Administration (SSA) and Office of Personnel Management, the GAO found that approximately half a million individuals who have a CDL were eligible for full disability benefits. Allowing these individuals who have been deemed unable to work, to drive a commercial sized vehicle, could be risky and dangerous.
In theory, qualifying for a full disability should involve an objective determination that an individual is unfit to work and even more so, drive a commercial vehicle. The government sends experts to look at a claimant’s medical files, hospital documents, may require a special evaluation and analyzes past relevant job history. When the government confirms that an individual is fully disabled, this should mean that an individual would be a poor candidate to engage in the activities of a commercial driver.
This government website lists many of the conditions that determine whether you are disabled and the basic guidelines that determine your ability.
http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10053.html
While as brain injury advocates, we are always striving to rehabilitate our clients, such rehabilitation cannot involve vocations that put both the disabled person and the general public at risk. Our next blog will provide examples from the GAO report of those using a CDL license, despite seriously disabling conditions.
Regulators scolded on medically unfit truckers
Date: 07/24/2008 07:45 PM
By JOAN LOWY
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) _ House lawmakers scolded federal regulators Thursday for failing to implement recommendations made in 2001 that were designed to keep medically unfit commercial truck and bus drivers off the nation’s highways.
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar, D-Minn., told Rose McMurray, the chief safety officer for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, that deaths and injuries caused by medically unfit drivers are “on your conscience” because the agency has taken so long to act.
“I think if your agency had a safety mission and a safety mind-set it wouldn’t have taken you eight years,” Oberstar told McMurray at a hearing, demanding that she “carry back to your agency” his message to “get people moving.”
He said the agency’s efforts to fulfill the eight recommendations made by the National Transportation Safety Board “have been begrudging and painstakingly slow. … The progress has been just about negligible.”
McMurray said the agency has proposed one rule and is close to proposing another to address two of the recommendations — to merge the licensing and medical certification of commercial drivers, and to create a national registry of examiners approved to issue medical certificates — and has made progress on two other recommendations. However, she said it will be about three years before progress is evident on the remaining four recommendations.
“We have to make sure we do this right and we have to ensure there are not unintended consequences,” McMurray said.
The NTSB made the recommendations in response to a 1999 motorcoach accident in New Orleans that killed 22, and put them on the agency’s “most wanted” list in 2003.
In the New Orleans motorcoach accident, the NTSB said the bus driver, Frank Bedell, 46, suffered life-threatening kidney and heart conditions but held a valid license and medical certificate. A passenger recounted seeing the driver slumped in his seat moments before the crash.
Tractor-trailer and bus drivers have suffered seizures, heart attacks or unconscious spells while behind the wheel. Such illnesses have been a critical factor in thousands of serious truck accidents.
The NTSB recommended that examiners who certify drivers as medically fit be qualified and know what to look for, and that a system be set up to track medical certificate applications and prevent drivers from doctor shopping.
A study by the House committee found that it’s so easy to fabricate the medical certificates required to operate commercial trucks and buses that there’s almost no incentive for drivers to obtain a legitimate document.
There are so few controls over how drivers obtain medical certificates that it’s “relatively easy for a motivated commercial driver to circumvent the physical examination requirement,” the study found. Nor is there any database or central repository which would allow state inspectors to verify the legitimacy of a medical certificate.
“Because so few attempts are made to authenticate a certificate, there is little risk that a driver will be caught if he or she forges or adulterates a certificate,” the study said.
The study was based on a sample of 614 medical certificates obtained from truck drivers at roadside inspections in California, Illinois and Ohio. The committee’s staff attempted to contact the examiners named on the medical certificates but could only verify 407 as valid.
One Ohio doctor contacted by the committee said forgery of medical certificates is so commonplace “no one gets alarmed by it anymore.”
Hundreds of thousands of drivers carry commercial licenses even though they also qualify for full federal disability payments, according to a U.S. safety study disclosed by The Associated Press earlier this week.
The Government Accountability Office said in the study that 563,000 commercial drivers were determined by the Veterans Affairs Department, Labor Department or Social Security Administration to also be eligible for full disability benefits over health issues. It said disability doesn’t necessarily mean a driver is unfit to operate a commercial vehicle, but its investigators found alarming examples that raised doubts about the safety of the nation’s highways.
___
On the Net:
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee: http://transportation.house.gov/
http://semi-accident.net
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By JOAN LOWY
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) _ House lawmakers scolded federal regulators Thursday for failing to implement recommendations made in 2001 that were designed to keep medically unfit commercial truck and bus drivers off the nation’s highways.
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar, D-Minn., told Rose McMurray, the chief safety officer for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, that deaths and injuries caused by medically unfit drivers are “on your conscience” because the agency has taken so long to act.
“I think if your agency had a safety mission and a safety mind-set it wouldn’t have taken you eight years,” Oberstar told McMurray at a hearing, demanding that she “carry back to your agency” his message to “get people moving.”
He said the agency’s efforts to fulfill the eight recommendations made by the National Transportation Safety Board “have been begrudging and painstakingly slow. … The progress has been just about negligible.”
McMurray said the agency has proposed one rule and is close to proposing another to address two of the recommendations — to merge the licensing and medical certification of commercial drivers, and to create a national registry of examiners approved to issue medical certificates — and has made progress on two other recommendations. However, she said it will be about three years before progress is evident on the remaining four recommendations.
“We have to make sure we do this right and we have to ensure there are not unintended consequences,” McMurray said.
The NTSB made the recommendations in response to a 1999 motorcoach accident in New Orleans that killed 22, and put them on the agency’s “most wanted” list in 2003.
In the New Orleans motorcoach accident, the NTSB said the bus driver, Frank Bedell, 46, suffered life-threatening kidney and heart conditions but held a valid license and medical certificate. A passenger recounted seeing the driver slumped in his seat moments before the crash.
Tractor-trailer and bus drivers have suffered seizures, heart attacks or unconscious spells while behind the wheel. Such illnesses have been a critical factor in thousands of serious truck accidents.
The NTSB recommended that examiners who certify drivers as medically fit be qualified and know what to look for, and that a system be set up to track medical certificate applications and prevent drivers from doctor shopping.
A study by the House committee found that it’s so easy to fabricate the medical certificates required to operate commercial trucks and buses that there’s almost no incentive for drivers to obtain a legitimate document.
There are so few controls over how drivers obtain medical certificates that it’s “relatively easy for a motivated commercial driver to circumvent the physical examination requirement,” the study found. Nor is there any database or central repository which would allow state inspectors to verify the legitimacy of a medical certificate.
“Because so few attempts are made to authenticate a certificate, there is little risk that a driver will be caught if he or she forges or adulterates a certificate,” the study said.
The study was based on a sample of 614 medical certificates obtained from truck drivers at roadside inspections in California, Illinois and Ohio. The committee’s staff attempted to contact the examiners named on the medical certificates but could only verify 407 as valid.
One Ohio doctor contacted by the committee said forgery of medical certificates is so commonplace “no one gets alarmed by it anymore.”
Hundreds of thousands of drivers carry commercial licenses even though they also qualify for full federal disability payments, according to a U.S. safety study disclosed by The Associated Press earlier this week.
The Government Accountability Office said in the study that 563,000 commercial drivers were determined by the Veterans Affairs Department, Labor Department or Social Security Administration to also be eligible for full disability benefits over health issues. It said disability doesn’t necessarily mean a driver is unfit to operate a commercial vehicle, but its investigators found alarming examples that raised doubts about the safety of the nation’s highways.
___
On the Net:
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee: http://transportation.house.gov/
http://semi-accident.net
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
House committee probes medically unfit truckers
As we commented on earlier this week, the issue of the medical fitness of truck drivers has been in the news. In conjunction with that is the below story from the AP about hearings of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. We will continue to monitor this story carefully, as the issue of the safety of our nation’s truck drivers is of the highest order.
Attorney Gordon Johnson,
http://semi-accident.com
http://tbilaw.com
https://waiting.com
http://vestibulardisorder.com
http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney
g@gordonjohnson.com
800-992-9447
©Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr. 2008
Date: 07/24/2008 03:24 AM
By JOAN LOWY
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) _ It’s so easy to fabricate the medical certificates required to operate commercial trucks on the nation’s highways that there’s almost no incentive for truckers to obtain a legitimate document, according to a congressional study.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s study — expected to be released at a hearing Thursday — found that there are so few controls over how drivers obtain medical certificates that it’s “relatively easy for a motivated commercial driver to circumvent the physical examination requirement.” Nor is there any database or central repository which would allow state inspectors to verify the legitimacy of a medical certificate.
“Because so few attempts are made to authenticate a certificate, there is little risk that a driver will be caught if he or she forges or adulterates a certificate,” according to the report, which was obtained by The Associated Press.
The Transportation Committee’s study was based on a sample of 614 medical certificates obtained from truck drivers at roadside inspections in California, Illinois and Ohio. The committee’s staff attempted to contact the medical examiners named on the certificates but could only verify 407 as valid.
One Ohio doctor contacted by the committee said forgery of medical certificates is so commonplace “no one gets alarmed by it anymore.”
The committee called officials of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to explain at the hearing why the agency hasn’t fully implemented recommendations made nearly seven years ago on how to keep medically unfit truck drivers off the road. The witness list also included officials from the National Transportation Safety Board, which made the recommendations.
The NTSB made the recommendations in September 2001 in response to a 1999 motorcoach accident in New Orleans that killed 22. They have lingered on the NTSB’s “most wanted” list of safety improvements for five years.
In the New Orleans motorcoach accident, the NTSB said the bus driver, Frank Bedell, 46, suffered life-threatening kidney and heart conditions but held a valid license and medical certificate. A passenger recounted seeing the driver slumped in his seat moments before the crash.
Bedell died three months later of an apparent heart-related illness. Investigators said he was treated at least 20 times in the 21 months before the accident for various ailments.
Tractor-trailer and bus drivers have suffered seizures, heart attacks or unconscious spells while behind the wheel. Such illnesses have been a critical factor in thousands of serious truck accidents.
The NTSB recommended that examiners who certify drivers as medically fit be qualified and know what to look for, that a system be set up to track medical certificate applications and prevent drivers from doctor shopping, and that a mechanism be provided for reporting drivers with potentially debilitating medical conditions.
Hundreds of thousands of drivers carry commercial licenses even though they also qualify for full federal disability payments, according to a new U.S. safety study disclosed by The Associated Press earlier this week.
The Government Accountability Office said in the study that 563,000 commercial drivers were determined by the Veterans Affairs Department, Labor Department or Social Security Administration to also be eligible for full disability benefits over health issues. It said disability doesn’t necessarily mean a driver is unfit to operate a commercial vehicle, but its investigators found alarming examples that raised doubts about the safety of the nation’s highways. They identified more than 1,000 drivers with vision, hearing or seizure disorders, which generally would prohibit a trucker from obtaining a valid commercial license.
Truckers violating federal medical rules have been caught in every state, according to an AP review of 7.3 million commercial driver violations compiled by the Transportation Department in 2006, the latest data available. Texas, Maryland, Georgia, Florida, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Alabama, New Jersey, Minnesota and Ohio were states where drivers were sanctioned most frequently for breaking medical rules, such as failing to carry a valid medical certificate. Those 12 states accounted for half of all such violations in the United States.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Attorney Gordon Johnson,
http://semi-accident.com
http://tbilaw.com
https://waiting.com
http://vestibulardisorder.com
http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney
g@gordonjohnson.com
800-992-9447
©Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr. 2008
Date: 07/24/2008 03:24 AM
By JOAN LOWY
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) _ It’s so easy to fabricate the medical certificates required to operate commercial trucks on the nation’s highways that there’s almost no incentive for truckers to obtain a legitimate document, according to a congressional study.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s study — expected to be released at a hearing Thursday — found that there are so few controls over how drivers obtain medical certificates that it’s “relatively easy for a motivated commercial driver to circumvent the physical examination requirement.” Nor is there any database or central repository which would allow state inspectors to verify the legitimacy of a medical certificate.
“Because so few attempts are made to authenticate a certificate, there is little risk that a driver will be caught if he or she forges or adulterates a certificate,” according to the report, which was obtained by The Associated Press.
The Transportation Committee’s study was based on a sample of 614 medical certificates obtained from truck drivers at roadside inspections in California, Illinois and Ohio. The committee’s staff attempted to contact the medical examiners named on the certificates but could only verify 407 as valid.
One Ohio doctor contacted by the committee said forgery of medical certificates is so commonplace “no one gets alarmed by it anymore.”
The committee called officials of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to explain at the hearing why the agency hasn’t fully implemented recommendations made nearly seven years ago on how to keep medically unfit truck drivers off the road. The witness list also included officials from the National Transportation Safety Board, which made the recommendations.
The NTSB made the recommendations in September 2001 in response to a 1999 motorcoach accident in New Orleans that killed 22. They have lingered on the NTSB’s “most wanted” list of safety improvements for five years.
In the New Orleans motorcoach accident, the NTSB said the bus driver, Frank Bedell, 46, suffered life-threatening kidney and heart conditions but held a valid license and medical certificate. A passenger recounted seeing the driver slumped in his seat moments before the crash.
Bedell died three months later of an apparent heart-related illness. Investigators said he was treated at least 20 times in the 21 months before the accident for various ailments.
Tractor-trailer and bus drivers have suffered seizures, heart attacks or unconscious spells while behind the wheel. Such illnesses have been a critical factor in thousands of serious truck accidents.
The NTSB recommended that examiners who certify drivers as medically fit be qualified and know what to look for, that a system be set up to track medical certificate applications and prevent drivers from doctor shopping, and that a mechanism be provided for reporting drivers with potentially debilitating medical conditions.
Hundreds of thousands of drivers carry commercial licenses even though they also qualify for full federal disability payments, according to a new U.S. safety study disclosed by The Associated Press earlier this week.
The Government Accountability Office said in the study that 563,000 commercial drivers were determined by the Veterans Affairs Department, Labor Department or Social Security Administration to also be eligible for full disability benefits over health issues. It said disability doesn’t necessarily mean a driver is unfit to operate a commercial vehicle, but its investigators found alarming examples that raised doubts about the safety of the nation’s highways. They identified more than 1,000 drivers with vision, hearing or seizure disorders, which generally would prohibit a trucker from obtaining a valid commercial license.
Truckers violating federal medical rules have been caught in every state, according to an AP review of 7.3 million commercial driver violations compiled by the Transportation Department in 2006, the latest data available. Texas, Maryland, Georgia, Florida, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Alabama, New Jersey, Minnesota and Ohio were states where drivers were sanctioned most frequently for breaking medical rules, such as failing to carry a valid medical certificate. Those 12 states accounted for half of all such violations in the United States.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Alcohol Toxicity Increases Exponentially with Other Factors
In the previous blog, the AP story is about a man arrested with a lethal dose of alcohol concentration in his blood, .491%. Not only did he survive (the highest known level for someone who did) he was driving prior to his arrest.
Intoxicated driving is a particularly relevant topic for a brain injury attorney, as so much of what we do involve motor vehicle wrecks. It has and always will be one of the most serious hazards on the roads. As someone who has dealt with BAC’s over .30 on occasion, this one is staggering. The highest I have run into in my practice is a .40, but that was in a young man who died of alcohol intoxication.
The highest I encountered with a defendant driver was a .32, which quite outrageously was in a pharmacist, who was actually “on call”. He admitted to me in his deposition (shortly before the case settled) that any concentration above .30 is potentially lethal.
Alcohol and driving don’t mix. But the equation isn’t quite that simple. Alcohol, driving and late night driving, are particularly dangerous.
Fatigue is one of the single biggest factors in alcohol related accidents and way too many people, drive the drunkest, when they would otherwise be asleep. In addition to the far too common situation of an intoxicated driver falling asleep, alcohol is particularly dangerous when an unexpected situation presents itself to the driver.
Pure reaction time doesn’t change dramatically at and around the legal limit of .08, but unexpected reaction times change significantly. By unexpected reactions times I mean the type of situation where something unexpected happened that required the driver to think and use instant judgment, as part of the reaction.
What makes the combination of fatigue and alcohol so deadly is that fatigue has very similar effects on situational reaction. Add the two risk factors together and you have an exponential increase in danger.2008
Intoxicated driving is a particularly relevant topic for a brain injury attorney, as so much of what we do involve motor vehicle wrecks. It has and always will be one of the most serious hazards on the roads. As someone who has dealt with BAC’s over .30 on occasion, this one is staggering. The highest I have run into in my practice is a .40, but that was in a young man who died of alcohol intoxication.
The highest I encountered with a defendant driver was a .32, which quite outrageously was in a pharmacist, who was actually “on call”. He admitted to me in his deposition (shortly before the case settled) that any concentration above .30 is potentially lethal.
Alcohol and driving don’t mix. But the equation isn’t quite that simple. Alcohol, driving and late night driving, are particularly dangerous.
Fatigue is one of the single biggest factors in alcohol related accidents and way too many people, drive the drunkest, when they would otherwise be asleep. In addition to the far too common situation of an intoxicated driver falling asleep, alcohol is particularly dangerous when an unexpected situation presents itself to the driver.
Pure reaction time doesn’t change dramatically at and around the legal limit of .08, but unexpected reaction times change significantly. By unexpected reactions times I mean the type of situation where something unexpected happened that required the driver to think and use instant judgment, as part of the reaction.
What makes the combination of fatigue and alcohol so deadly is that fatigue has very similar effects on situational reaction. Add the two risk factors together and you have an exponential increase in danger.2008
RI cops arrest man with 0.491 blood alcohol level
Date: 07/22/2008 09:02 PM
RI cops arrest man with 0.491 blood alcohol level
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) _ State police say they arrested a man early Tuesday whose blood alcohol level was 0.491 percent — the highest ever recorded in Rhode Island for someone who wasn’t dead.
Stanley Kobierowski was taken to a hospital, put in the detoxification unit and sedated, said Maj. Steven O’Donnell. He was arraigned Tuesday on charges of driving while intoxicated and resisting arrest, and he was released after promising to appear Friday at a court hearing.
“The person’s lucky they survived,” O’Donnell said. “There’s no doubt he would have gotten killed or killed someone if he had continued on the route he was taking.”
A phone listing for Kobierowski could not be found, and he did not have a lawyer in court Tuesday.
Kobierowski, 34, of North Providence, was arrested after he drove into a highway message board on Interstate 95 in Providence, O’Donnell said.
After police arrived, Kobierowski had trouble getting out of the car, then grabbed it and refused to move, forcing troopers to carry him to the breakdown lane before taking him back to their barracks, O’Donnell said.
A breath test showed blood alcohol readings of 0.489 percent, followed by 0.491, O’Donnell said, the highest readings state officials could remember for someone who didn’t end up dead.
The legal limit in Rhode Island is 0.08. A level of 0.30 is classified as stupor, 0.4 is comatose and 0.5 is considered fatal, according to the health department.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
RI cops arrest man with 0.491 blood alcohol level
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) _ State police say they arrested a man early Tuesday whose blood alcohol level was 0.491 percent — the highest ever recorded in Rhode Island for someone who wasn’t dead.
Stanley Kobierowski was taken to a hospital, put in the detoxification unit and sedated, said Maj. Steven O’Donnell. He was arraigned Tuesday on charges of driving while intoxicated and resisting arrest, and he was released after promising to appear Friday at a court hearing.
“The person’s lucky they survived,” O’Donnell said. “There’s no doubt he would have gotten killed or killed someone if he had continued on the route he was taking.”
A phone listing for Kobierowski could not be found, and he did not have a lawyer in court Tuesday.
Kobierowski, 34, of North Providence, was arrested after he drove into a highway message board on Interstate 95 in Providence, O’Donnell said.
After police arrived, Kobierowski had trouble getting out of the car, then grabbed it and refused to move, forcing troopers to carry him to the breakdown lane before taking him back to their barracks, O’Donnell said.
A breath test showed blood alcohol readings of 0.489 percent, followed by 0.491, O’Donnell said, the highest readings state officials could remember for someone who didn’t end up dead.
The legal limit in Rhode Island is 0.08. A level of 0.30 is classified as stupor, 0.4 is comatose and 0.5 is considered fatal, according to the health department.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Accommodation of Disability versus Public Safety in Tractor Trailer Operation
The Blog below about sick truck drivers hits close to home for me, both as an attorney who believes our lawsuits ultimately make the roads safer, but also as an advocate for those injured.
In seemingly every case, I have a client whose ability to drive is impaired in some way by his or her brain injury. If you were to run a list of brain injury symptoms, almost every symptom on that list would reduce to some extent, a person’s capacity to drive under certain traffic conditions. While taking someone’s drivers license is the equivalent to a prison sentence in some ways, it is still imperative to the public safety and the already vulnerable person’s safety, that they not take unnecessary risk of a wreck.
In most of my cases, the brain injured person works out a compromise on this issue, driving only under limited circumstances, near home, during periods of light traffic. I am never happy with this, because one can never completely plan for the unexpected when driving, and it is the unexpected that causes the distraction, that results in the wreck.
But while all life is compromises -balancing risk against rewards, when you are talking about the huge public safety issue involved in driving an 18 wheeler, then there can be no compromise. The risk is so great, no individually based reward can justify it. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety rules are strict for a reason: trucks are just too dangerous in the hands of someone incapable of handling all of the stresses involved. But we must do more than have strict rules, we must have a compliance policy that ensures that all truck drivers are safe.
We discuss these issues at length at our page http://semi-accident.com/ While as an advocate, I am always pushing to able, not disable my clients, trucking is not an a field for accommodation, trial and error. Drivers, carriers and regulators must assure that everyone behind the wheel of an 18 wheeler is fully capable.
In seemingly every case, I have a client whose ability to drive is impaired in some way by his or her brain injury. If you were to run a list of brain injury symptoms, almost every symptom on that list would reduce to some extent, a person’s capacity to drive under certain traffic conditions. While taking someone’s drivers license is the equivalent to a prison sentence in some ways, it is still imperative to the public safety and the already vulnerable person’s safety, that they not take unnecessary risk of a wreck.
In most of my cases, the brain injured person works out a compromise on this issue, driving only under limited circumstances, near home, during periods of light traffic. I am never happy with this, because one can never completely plan for the unexpected when driving, and it is the unexpected that causes the distraction, that results in the wreck.
But while all life is compromises -balancing risk against rewards, when you are talking about the huge public safety issue involved in driving an 18 wheeler, then there can be no compromise. The risk is so great, no individually based reward can justify it. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety rules are strict for a reason: trucks are just too dangerous in the hands of someone incapable of handling all of the stresses involved. But we must do more than have strict rules, we must have a compliance policy that ensures that all truck drivers are safe.
We discuss these issues at length at our page http://semi-accident.com/ While as an advocate, I am always pushing to able, not disable my clients, trucking is not an a field for accommodation, trial and error. Drivers, carriers and regulators must assure that everyone behind the wheel of an 18 wheeler is fully capable.
Deadly Tolls: Sick truckers causing fatal wrecks
Date: 07/21/2008 07:22 AM
By HOPE YEN
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Hundreds of thousands of tractor-trailer and bus drivers in the United States carry commercial driver’s licenses despite also qualifying for full federal disability payments, and some of those drivers have suffered seizures, heart attacks or unconscious spells, according to a new U.S. safety study obtained by The Associated Press.
The problems threatening highway travelers persist despite years of government warnings and hundreds of deaths and injuries blamed on commercial truck and bus drivers who blacked out, collapsed or suffered major health problems behind the wheels of vehicles that can weigh 40 tons or more.
The U.S. agency responsible for cracking down on unfit truckers, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, acknowledges it hasn’t completed any of eight recommendations that U.S. safety regulators have proposed since 2001. One would set minimum standards for officials who determine whether truckers are medically safe to drive. Another would prevent truckers from “doctor shopping” to find a physician who might overlook a risky health condition. It’s unclear whether any of the eight recommendations will be done before President Bush leaves office.
“We have a major public safety problem, and we haven’t corrected it,” said Gerald Donaldson, senior research director at the Washington-based Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, whose members include consumer, health and safety groups and insurance companies. “You have an agency that is favorably disposed to maintaining the integrity of the industry’s economic situation.”
Truckers violating federal medical rules have been caught in every state, according to a review by the AP of 7.3 million commercial driver violations compiled by the Transportation Department in 2006, the latest data available. Texas, Maryland, Georgia, Florida, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Alabama, New Jersey, Minnesota and Ohio were states where drivers were sanctioned most frequently for breaking medical rules, such as failing to carry a valid medical certificate. Those 12 states accounted for half of all such violations in the United States.
Consider these cases:
—A Florida bus driver who suffers from lung disease and uses three daily inhalers to control breathing told congressional investigators that he “occasionally blacks out and forgets things.” He works as a substitute driver despite not having a medical certificate, and his commercial license expires in 2010. The driver, who was not identified but will figure prominently in a congressional hearing this week, has collected Social Security benefits since 1994. He confided to investigators that he “gets winded” walking to his mailbox but has no problem driving a passenger bus.
—A Virginia trucker with a prosthetic leg from a farm accident more than 10 years ago is permitted to drive tanker trucks until at least 2012, even though he doesn’t have the proper federal paperwork required for amputees. Virginia revoked the medical license for the official who approved him to drive over charges the official was caught illegally distributing controlled substances.
—George Albright Jr., 61, smashed his 70,000-pound tractor-trailer into congested traffic on Interstate 70 in June 2006, killing four women in a Ford sedan about 30 miles east of Columbia, Mo. Albright’s employer agreed earlier this year to pay $18 million in a settlement. A Missouri jury acquitted Albright this month on four counts of second-degree involuntary manslaughter, after his lawyers argued in court that a diabetic episode “put him in an altered state of consciousness.” Albright wasn’t injured.
—A gasoline tanker plunged from an overpass and exploded in flames on Interstate 95 near Baltimore in January 2004, killing four people. Witnesses reported the driver slumped over the wheel. Maryland investigators concluded the driver, Jackie M. Frost, had suffered a heart attack or other medical emergency, but his family disputed that.
—The driver of a 15-passenger “Tippy Toes” day-care bus traveling 63 mph on Interstate 240 in Memphis, Tenn., in April 2002 crashed into a bridge, killing the driver and four of the six children aboard. The National Transportation Safety Board said the driver, Wesley B. Hudson, 27, fell asleep, “quite likely due to an undiagnosed sleep disorder.” Investigators said children sometimes had to wake up Hudson, whom the NTSB described as obese and a marijuana user.
—A 55-passenger bus rolled off Interstate 610 in New Orleans in May 1999, killing 22 passengers. The NTSB said the bus driver, Frank Bedell, 46, suffered life-threatening kidney and heart conditions but held a valid license and medical certificate. Moments before the crash, a passenger recounted seeing the driver slumped in his seat. Bedell died three months later of an apparent heart-related illness. Investigators said he was treated at least 20 times in the 21 months before the accident for various ailments.
Some truckers said the government should enforce existing rules, not make new ones.
“Do you enjoy your clothing and house? Without the truck driver you would have none of it,” said Gary Hull, 52, a trucker for a Louisiana company, as he drove from Edinburg, Texas, to Mansfield, La. “Our economy is based on the truck. People don’t understand the ramifications of making it more restrictive for truck drivers to drive.”
Hull said most drivers are hard workers who earn a modest salary and cope with rising diesel prices. New regulations could add to costs and force truckers to evade the rules, he said.
The Transportation Department said 5,300 people died in crashes involving large commercial trucks or buses in 2006, the latest year for which figures are available, and about 126,000 more were injured. A federal safety study last summer found that cases where drivers fell asleep, suffered heart attacks or seizures or otherwise were physically impaired were a leading cause of serious crashes involving large trucks. But those cases included healthy drivers who fell asleep.
“The problem is major. It’s one of the biggest causes of occupational death in the United States today,” said Dr. Kurt Hegmann, chairman of the FMCSA’s medical oversight board, which is urging more doctor visits in many cases for truckers with serious medical conditions.
While it may be years before any of the board’s proposals take effect, there is nothing preventing doctors from stepping up scrutiny of drivers’ medical conditions right away, Hegmann said.
Congress may take action soon. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, led by Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., will conduct oversight hearings Thursday. One proposal would create a clearinghouse for drug test results for commercial truck drivers to make it easier for employers to conduct checks. Oberstar’s committee asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate unfit truck drivers.
The 30-page GAO study, obtained by the AP in advance of its release later this week, said 563,000 commercial drivers were determined by the Veterans Affairs Department, Labor Department or Social Security Administration to also be eligible for full disability benefits over health issues. It said disability doesn’t necessarily mean a driver is unfit to operate a commercial vehicle, but its investigators found alarming examples that raised doubts about the safety of the nation’s highways. They identified more than 1,000 drivers with vision, hearing or seizure disorders, which generally would prohibit a trucker from obtaining a valid commercial license.
The chief safety officer for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Rose McMurray, acknowledged problems that could lead to unfit truck drivers on the roads. She blamed delays in reforms on a lack of federal money and difficulty coordinating with 50 states. McMurray said changes to stren gthen the medical oversight program may not be done for months or even years.
“We have done a lot to recognize the deficiencies in our medical oversight program, and the building blocks we’re establishing are very smart and very strong,” McMurray said.
Families of crash victims said stronger safety rules can’t happen soon enough.
William Hieronymus II of Salina, Kan., said he remembers eating cereal each morning with his 10-month-old son. His son William and wife, Amanda, died in May 2005 when a truck crossed a median and struck their SUV.
The driver, Scott A. Wegrzyn, pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular homicide. Prosecutors said Wegrzyn knew he suffered from sleep apnea and went to a second doctor without disclosing the condition to obtain the medical certification he needed to drive.
“I try to go through a day without crying,” Hieronymus said during Wegrzyn’s trial. “I wonder every day what (Will) would have grown up to be, what he would have stood for.”
___
On the Net:
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety: http://www.saferoads.org/
Government Accountability Office: http://www.gao.gov/
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By HOPE YEN
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Hundreds of thousands of tractor-trailer and bus drivers in the United States carry commercial driver’s licenses despite also qualifying for full federal disability payments, and some of those drivers have suffered seizures, heart attacks or unconscious spells, according to a new U.S. safety study obtained by The Associated Press.
The problems threatening highway travelers persist despite years of government warnings and hundreds of deaths and injuries blamed on commercial truck and bus drivers who blacked out, collapsed or suffered major health problems behind the wheels of vehicles that can weigh 40 tons or more.
The U.S. agency responsible for cracking down on unfit truckers, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, acknowledges it hasn’t completed any of eight recommendations that U.S. safety regulators have proposed since 2001. One would set minimum standards for officials who determine whether truckers are medically safe to drive. Another would prevent truckers from “doctor shopping” to find a physician who might overlook a risky health condition. It’s unclear whether any of the eight recommendations will be done before President Bush leaves office.
“We have a major public safety problem, and we haven’t corrected it,” said Gerald Donaldson, senior research director at the Washington-based Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, whose members include consumer, health and safety groups and insurance companies. “You have an agency that is favorably disposed to maintaining the integrity of the industry’s economic situation.”
Truckers violating federal medical rules have been caught in every state, according to a review by the AP of 7.3 million commercial driver violations compiled by the Transportation Department in 2006, the latest data available. Texas, Maryland, Georgia, Florida, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Alabama, New Jersey, Minnesota and Ohio were states where drivers were sanctioned most frequently for breaking medical rules, such as failing to carry a valid medical certificate. Those 12 states accounted for half of all such violations in the United States.
Consider these cases:
—A Florida bus driver who suffers from lung disease and uses three daily inhalers to control breathing told congressional investigators that he “occasionally blacks out and forgets things.” He works as a substitute driver despite not having a medical certificate, and his commercial license expires in 2010. The driver, who was not identified but will figure prominently in a congressional hearing this week, has collected Social Security benefits since 1994. He confided to investigators that he “gets winded” walking to his mailbox but has no problem driving a passenger bus.
—A Virginia trucker with a prosthetic leg from a farm accident more than 10 years ago is permitted to drive tanker trucks until at least 2012, even though he doesn’t have the proper federal paperwork required for amputees. Virginia revoked the medical license for the official who approved him to drive over charges the official was caught illegally distributing controlled substances.
—George Albright Jr., 61, smashed his 70,000-pound tractor-trailer into congested traffic on Interstate 70 in June 2006, killing four women in a Ford sedan about 30 miles east of Columbia, Mo. Albright’s employer agreed earlier this year to pay $18 million in a settlement. A Missouri jury acquitted Albright this month on four counts of second-degree involuntary manslaughter, after his lawyers argued in court that a diabetic episode “put him in an altered state of consciousness.” Albright wasn’t injured.
—A gasoline tanker plunged from an overpass and exploded in flames on Interstate 95 near Baltimore in January 2004, killing four people. Witnesses reported the driver slumped over the wheel. Maryland investigators concluded the driver, Jackie M. Frost, had suffered a heart attack or other medical emergency, but his family disputed that.
—The driver of a 15-passenger “Tippy Toes” day-care bus traveling 63 mph on Interstate 240 in Memphis, Tenn., in April 2002 crashed into a bridge, killing the driver and four of the six children aboard. The National Transportation Safety Board said the driver, Wesley B. Hudson, 27, fell asleep, “quite likely due to an undiagnosed sleep disorder.” Investigators said children sometimes had to wake up Hudson, whom the NTSB described as obese and a marijuana user.
—A 55-passenger bus rolled off Interstate 610 in New Orleans in May 1999, killing 22 passengers. The NTSB said the bus driver, Frank Bedell, 46, suffered life-threatening kidney and heart conditions but held a valid license and medical certificate. Moments before the crash, a passenger recounted seeing the driver slumped in his seat. Bedell died three months later of an apparent heart-related illness. Investigators said he was treated at least 20 times in the 21 months before the accident for various ailments.
Some truckers said the government should enforce existing rules, not make new ones.
“Do you enjoy your clothing and house? Without the truck driver you would have none of it,” said Gary Hull, 52, a trucker for a Louisiana company, as he drove from Edinburg, Texas, to Mansfield, La. “Our economy is based on the truck. People don’t understand the ramifications of making it more restrictive for truck drivers to drive.”
Hull said most drivers are hard workers who earn a modest salary and cope with rising diesel prices. New regulations could add to costs and force truckers to evade the rules, he said.
The Transportation Department said 5,300 people died in crashes involving large commercial trucks or buses in 2006, the latest year for which figures are available, and about 126,000 more were injured. A federal safety study last summer found that cases where drivers fell asleep, suffered heart attacks or seizures or otherwise were physically impaired were a leading cause of serious crashes involving large trucks. But those cases included healthy drivers who fell asleep.
“The problem is major. It’s one of the biggest causes of occupational death in the United States today,” said Dr. Kurt Hegmann, chairman of the FMCSA’s medical oversight board, which is urging more doctor visits in many cases for truckers with serious medical conditions.
While it may be years before any of the board’s proposals take effect, there is nothing preventing doctors from stepping up scrutiny of drivers’ medical conditions right away, Hegmann said.
Congress may take action soon. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, led by Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., will conduct oversight hearings Thursday. One proposal would create a clearinghouse for drug test results for commercial truck drivers to make it easier for employers to conduct checks. Oberstar’s committee asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate unfit truck drivers.
The 30-page GAO study, obtained by the AP in advance of its release later this week, said 563,000 commercial drivers were determined by the Veterans Affairs Department, Labor Department or Social Security Administration to also be eligible for full disability benefits over health issues. It said disability doesn’t necessarily mean a driver is unfit to operate a commercial vehicle, but its investigators found alarming examples that raised doubts about the safety of the nation’s highways. They identified more than 1,000 drivers with vision, hearing or seizure disorders, which generally would prohibit a trucker from obtaining a valid commercial license.
The chief safety officer for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Rose McMurray, acknowledged problems that could lead to unfit truck drivers on the roads. She blamed delays in reforms on a lack of federal money and difficulty coordinating with 50 states. McMurray said changes to stren gthen the medical oversight program may not be done for months or even years.
“We have done a lot to recognize the deficiencies in our medical oversight program, and the building blocks we’re establishing are very smart and very strong,” McMurray said.
Families of crash victims said stronger safety rules can’t happen soon enough.
William Hieronymus II of Salina, Kan., said he remembers eating cereal each morning with his 10-month-old son. His son William and wife, Amanda, died in May 2005 when a truck crossed a median and struck their SUV.
The driver, Scott A. Wegrzyn, pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular homicide. Prosecutors said Wegrzyn knew he suffered from sleep apnea and went to a second doctor without disclosing the condition to obtain the medical certification he needed to drive.
“I try to go through a day without crying,” Hieronymus said during Wegrzyn’s trial. “I wonder every day what (Will) would have grown up to be, what he would have stood for.”
___
On the Net:
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety: http://www.saferoads.org/
Government Accountability Office: http://www.gao.gov/
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Another Waiting.com Coma Tragedy
From another reader, who got solace from our advocacy on https://waiting.com:
Attorney Gordon Johnson
On Jul 14, 2008, at 7:31 PM, Alina Higuera wrote:
Hello My name is Alina I come from a family of ten kids 7 girls and 3 boys It seems as if my family and I are reliving the devastation of my brothers ( 3rd born ) brain injury that occured on Dec 3, 1979. his injuries were caused by blunt force trauma to the head, he fell out of the back of a pick up truck. The part of the brain that was damaged was at the brain stem. After being in a coma for 3 mo. he returned to us, having to relearn how to do everything, unfortunatly my brother never did regain use of his legs and was able to move his right arm only. he remained very inteligent as he was before this happened. All of his sences were very much intact including pain. He could’nt move anything but he could feel everything, I remember so many many times he would yell for me to come and scratch his itch because he was unable to and we all know how irritating that is, pain was another thing that my brother could feel, it would break my heart to see the unbearable pain on his face when he would be getting therapy or just cleaning him up. My brother lived in that hell for 31 yrs and never one time did I ever hear him feeling sorry for himself, he was always smiling and without fail the first one to say “Good Morning” and nerver forgot a birthday and was the one always doing the cheering up. We lost my brother on Feb 15, 2008 although he is greatly missed I am happy that he is no longer suffering from the bondage that he lived with and through for so many years. On July 12, 2008 my older sister ( 5th born ) 51 years old went into cardiac arrest while visiting another sister over the weekend, after returning from a quick errond as she walked into the front door she found my sister face down on the ground not breathing and with no pulse, she began to administer CPR immediatly, as she called out for help a neighbor came running who happens to be a lifegaurd and assisted my sister with CPR paramedics finally arrived still with no pulse or breathing they began chest compressions and then the electric paddles to try and start the heart, finally after about 15 mins they were able to feel a faint pulse. My sister now lays in a coma on a breathing machine with no responsive reaction. She was having seizures that were coming between every 15 to 30 secs of eachother. because of the lack of oxygen to the brain they say that she does have significant brain damage now to what extent we are not at all sure. Seeing my sister hooked up to machines and just laying there is a de ja vu of 31 years ago. My heart is breaking for my mom because as before she sits along side of my sisters bed talking to her and insisting that she will be just fine as she did with my brother. I can only hope and pray that she comes out of this and returns back to normal ( as normal as possible ) for the sake of my sister she would never want to live as my brother did ( we have all discussed it many times ) and as for the sake of my mom I can only hope and pray and hope and pray that she is strong enough to handle whatever the outcome will be. Only time will tell the fate of my sister, I love her and I miss her sooo very much and God willing she will come back the way she was.
Thank You for reading my story and even more for allowing me to write about it and somewhat releasing it from inside of me.
Alina Higuera
Hello Gordon,
I was so hoping to get a reply back from you. I am very sad to say that after sending this email, we were informed that due to the lack of oxygen to the brain, that my sister was brain dead and that they could do no more for her. She was removed from the machines and to much surprize was breathing on her own for about 36 hrs. she passed away July 18. You absolutley have my permission to post this on your blog, I can only hope that it will bring some comfort to the surviving relatives that they are not alone. Thank You so much for your response.
Alina Higuera
Kudos for our Coma Advocacy
From a user of https://waiting.com:
Attorney Gordon Johnson
http://subtlebraininjury.com
http://tbilaw.com
https://waiting.com
http://vestibulardisorder.com
http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney
g@gordonjohnson.com
800-992-9447
©Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr. 2008
Attorney Gordon Johnson
http://subtlebraininjury.com
http://tbilaw.com
https://waiting.com
http://vestibulardisorder.com
http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney
g@gordonjohnson.com
800-992-9447
©Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr. 2008
I was thumbing through some old email and I ran across yours. I remember writing you when my mother fell into coma. I remember how helpful this website was to me. How you help me and my family to understand what my mother was going through. I especially like how this site explained all the many different tubes and meaning of words surrounding coma. It educated me, it made me apart of the process. I enjoyed that very much.
My mother was 68 years old and lost the battle of recovery, however, this site helped me to deal with that also. This site gave me hope and kept me inform of what could happen. This site helped prepared me for the future without my mom. I thank God for giving me the strength to go though this and I thank you for educating me on coma so that I know what to pray for. My mother was laid to rest April 5, 2008. Thank you for being there for me.
Sonia