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.
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.
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.