The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Takes Steps to Improve Bus and Truck Safety

Accidents involving buses and large trucks are extremely dangerous. Because of the size difference between a bus or truck and an automobile, the chances of serious injury or death are much greater. Both truck and bus accidents are on the rise in the United States, and they are often caused by the truck or bus driver.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s New Commercial Drivers License Rules
In an effort to make the roads safer, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has streamlined the Commercial Drivers License (CDL) to include the driver’s medical examination records. This came in response to repeated warnings from Congress, the first of which occurred in 2001 after a tragic motor coach accident where 22 people died because the driver, though legally licensed, had serious heart and kidney conditions. Driver illnesses such as heart attacks, strokes, seizures, and spells of unconsciousness have caused thousands of accidents in the United States.

Under FMCSA’s new rules, states will have three years to create one electronic database that will include both drivers’ CDLs and their medical examination records into one record. This will make it easier to ensure that drivers are healthy enough to operate a commercial vehicle, especially considering that many employers do not even report their drivers’ conditions to the authorities.

Highlighting the problem even further, Congress’s General Accountability Office found that hundreds of thousands of truck and bus drivers are licensed and operating vehicles even though they have received federal disability payments for medical conditions. A separate House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee study found that it is shockingly easy to fabricate medical records and that drivers have no incentive to obtain proper records because there is little risk of getting caught.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s New Medical Examiner Rules
In addition to the streamlining of license and medical records, the FMCSA also approved a new rule that would create a National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners. This would help ensure that only qualified medical practitioners perform CDL holders’ physical qualification examinations and that they are administered uniformly and consistently. This plan would also create certification standards and a training and testing program. Under this program, an examiner would also have to electronically transmit the name and identification number for each examined driver. Examiners who fail to follow the program and meet the standards would be removed from the registry.

The goal of both of these changes is to help ensure that only drivers who are healthy enough to drive safely are on the road. Thank you for reading my blog; I hope you found this information helpful. If you have a question or comment, please feel free to post it here, but keep in mind your response will not be confidential. If you or a loved one has been involved in a truck or bus accident, seek experienced legal representation. Contact me for immediate help and assistance.