Minnesota and all other states have three years to comply with a new federal rule designed to get medically unfit truck drivers off the road by implementing an improved record-keeping system.
The rule, which aims to reduce the number of large truck accidents on U.S. roads, was made final in December by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) after years of complaints that unfit drivers subject to physical qualification requirements were using phony medical examiner certificates. There was no electronic database to check the validity of the certificates.
Under the new rule, drivers will be required to provide current medical examiner certificates to their state driver licensing agency. The agencies will be required to record the information in the universal commercial driver license information system.
The rule stems from recommendations made by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in response to a motor coach accident in 1999 that killed 22 in New Orleans. In that case, the NTSB said the driver was holding a medical certificate and driver’s license saying he was fit to drive even though he suffered life-threatening kidney and heart conditions. A passenger told investigators the driver slumped in his seat moments before the crash.
In addition, the Associated Press has reported that seizures, heart attacks or unconscious spells by drivers have been a critical factor in thousands of serious truck accidents.
According to a 2008 study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, hundreds of thousands of drivers were operating trucks and buses even though they had qualified for federal medical disability payments. A separate study by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee found that fabricated medical certificates are easy for truckers to obtain. The risk of getting caught is slim because there are barely any attempts by anyone to authenticate the documents, the committee found.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, one of nine traffic fatalities in the U.S. in 2007 resulted from a collision involving a large truck. Of 413,000 traffic accidents involving a large truck in that year, 4,584 involved at least one fatality. In total, 4,808 people died and 101,000 were seriously injured in the truck accidents.
If you or a family member has been injured in an accident involving a truck, contact a Minnesota accident lawyer at the Minnesota law firm of Pritzker | Ruohonen & Associates by clicking here.
