Health Conditions Can Make Long-Haul Drivers an Unsafe Roadway Presence
Due to the destructive capacity of semi-trucks and tractor-trailers, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has created strict regulations governing long-haul commercial trucking and who may become a driver. Unfortunately, some drivers have managed to dodge the stringent health standards applied to drivers, which can have negative consequences for those sharing the road with these large trucks and place them at risk of serious injury or death in a truck accident.
The FMCSA has long required all those wishing to obtain a commercial driver’s license (CDL) to meet certain health standards, but the agency intensified its efforts to screen drivers for health problems beginning in 2008. It was then that a study was released revealing that 4% of the entire population of drivers who had been issued a CDL had qualified to receive full-time federal disability benefits, with the majority receiving their CDL after being determined to possess a serious disability. This study spurred the FMCSA to require drivers to obtain a medical examination only from a doctor certified by the Department of Transportation to conduct these examinations, and to be required to produce the certificate granting them medical clearance to their state driver licensing authority, not just the federal authority.
Nevertheless, a central flaw in even the more strict system persists: the reliance on the self-reporting of medical conditions. The FMCSA asks drivers to disclose a thorough medical history during the mandated medical examination. While not all health conditions will foreclose a driver from receiving a CDL, some will, in fact, bar that driver from being permitted to legally operate a large commercial truck. For example, those with epilepsy, vision problems, serious heart conditions, sleep disorders, high blood pressure, or nerve damage in the hands or feet may have to undergo additional testing before being permitted to obtain a CDL, or they may be barred from obtaining a license entirely. However, these restrictions are dependent on the drivers disclosing to the examiner that they have one of the conditions in question, which does not always occur. Additionally, examiners retain the authority to grant exemptions to applicants who do disclose that they’ve been diagnosed with one of these conditions, and offered nearly 2,400 such exemptions between 2013 and 2014.
Accidents caused by drivers with these health problems are thus tragic but unsurprising. One such example is that of a tractor-trailer driver who lost consciousness after recently undergoing treatment of a 90%-obstructed artery. Another is that of a Greyhound driver with sleep apnea who had ceased using his breathing assistance machine at night and lost consciousness while behind the wheel, causing the bus to roll down an embankment. In order to protect those whose safety is imperiled by these drivers, regulations allowing self-reporting rather than independent verification of a driver’s health should be changed.
If you have been hurt in a New Jersey large truck or tractor-trailer accident, make sure you receive the money damages you need to recover from your injuries by contacting Wayne personal injury and truck accident lawyers Massood Law Group for a consultation on your case at 973-696-1900.
