 A Government Accountability Office study, due later this week, indicates that more than half a million commercial drivers may be physically unfit to drive. That’s because these drivers are eligible for full disability payments over health issues, as determined by the Social Security Administration, Veterans Affairs Department and Labor Department.
The Associated Press, which received a copy of the federal study in advance, reports that more than 1,000 of these drivers have a hearing, vision or seizure disorder, which normally would prevent someone from getting a commercial trucker’s license. Other drivers are subject to heart attacks or unconscious spells, yet they continue to operate vehicles which weigh 40 tons or more. It’s unclear precisely how many of these drivers have caused accidents on roads, but it’s believed that drivers who fall asleep at the wheel or who suffer a heart attack or seizure account for many serious crashes of large vehicles. The U.S. Department of Transportation reports that in 2006, the most recent year with available statistics, 5,300 persons died and 126,000 were injured in crashes of large commercial trucks or buses. Federal inaction keeps unfit drivers on road The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is the agency most responsible for tracking down unfit truck and bus drivers. Yet the FMCSA has not yet completed any of the eight recommendations made to it by U.S. safety regulators since 2001 to reduce truck accidents and bus accidents. Texas is among 12 states where drivers of buses and 18 wheeler trucks are most often sanctioned for breaking medical rules. Those dozen states are responsible for half of the cases in which truck drivers break medical rules. Documented cases of commercial drivers causing accidents due to health problems include a bus driver who fell asleep due to a sleep disorder; a gasoline tanker driver who suffered a heart attack; a passenger bus driver who had heart problems; and a tractor-trailer driver who had a diabetic episode at the wheel. The FMCSA claims that it’s been unable to standardize and enforce rules regarding commercial drivers’ health due to a lack of sufficient federal funding, as well as an inability to coordinate between all 50 states. Truck accident lawyer, bus accident lawyer can help Meanwhile, large and heavy commercial vehicles, including buses which carry many passengers, are not being held to rules of strict accountability when it comes to the physical fitness of their drivers. If you or a loved one has suffered in a vehicle accident involving a physically impaired commercial driver of a truck or a bus, contact Jim S. Adler & Associates for help. After assessing a free case review, the firm’s bus accident lawyers and truck accident lawyers will work on a contingency basis, meaning they do not charge fees but rather a percent of the award should your case prevail in court. |
