Fatal Accidents the Result of Truckers' Poor Health
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A new report was just released from the Associated Press today that reveals a growing problem among one of our nations key industries. Tractor-trailer and bus drivers in the US are driving our highways with commercial licenses even though they qualify for full federal disability payments.
Even worse is the fact that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has admitted that it has come up short in implementing the eight recommendations that U.S. safety regulators have proposed since 2001. One of these would set minimum standards for officials who determine whether truckers are medically safe to drive.
Truckers who have violated the medical rules set out by the government are everywhere, but 12 states have proven to be leaders in producing violations. Texas, Maryland, Georgia, Florida, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Alabama, New Jersey, Minnesota and Ohio were all states where drivers broke the rules most often.
The AP article lists several appalling cases where truck drivers have caused fatalities as a result of their medical violations. In some cases morbidly obese truck drivers had heart attacks while others admitted to occasionally blacking out and forgetting things.