Medically Unfit Truckers a "Major Public Health Concern"
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On July 24, 2008, the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a long-awaited report detailing how approximately 563,000 commercial drivers had serious, disabling medical conditions.
The 563,000 professional drivers include mostly interstate semi-truck drivers and commercial bus drivers from around the United States, including Wisconsin. The study matched the identities from Commercial Drivers Licenses (CDL) to the lists of disabled individuals from the following:
- Social Security Administration
- Office of Personnel Management
- Department of Veteran Affairs
- Department of Labor
After matching the identities of the professional drivers with the disability rolls, the GAO then chose 12 states to analyze more closely. Wisconsin was one of those 12 states. The results of the more detailed analysis surprised many.
Perhaps the most startling fact obtained from the deeper analysis was that the majority of CDL’s were issued to drivers AFTER they had been declared fully disabled due to medical conditions by the federal government. Further analysis showed that over 1,000 of the drivers in the 12 states had medical conditions which included: vision problems, hearing problems and seizure disorders. Obvious disabilities that could cause significant limitations while driving.
The report confirms what we attorneys that routinely take on interstate trucking and bus companies have long known, that this has been and continues to be a serious problem. For years, we have been dealing with truck and bus drivers that “doctor shop” until they can find a physician willing to certify them as medically fit to drive. We regularly see semi-truck drivers causing serious accidents when they shouldn't even be on the road.
Each year, 5,000 people are killed and over 100,000 are injured as a result of crashes involving semi-trucks and buses througout the United States.
