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.
