House committee probes medically unfit truckers (fabricate the medical certificates)

[Omaha Steve]

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20080724/D92438C80.html

Jul 24, 3:46 AM (ET)

By JOAN LOWY

WASHINGTON (AP) - It's so easy to fabricate the medical certificates required to operate commercial trucks on the nation's highways that there's almost no incentive for truckers to obtain a legitimate document, according to a congressional study.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's study - expected to be released at a hearing Thursday - found that there are so few controls over how drivers obtain medical certificates that it's "relatively easy for a motivated commercial driver to circumvent the physical examination requirement." Nor is there any database or central repository which would allow state inspectors to verify the legitimacy of a medical certificate.


In this May 9, 1999 file photo, emergency workers remove the body of one of the victims of a bus wreck in New Orleans. A chartered bus carrying members of a casino club on a Mother's Day gambling excursion crashed killing 22 people. The National transportation Safety Board said the bus driver suffered life-threatening kidney and heart conditions but held a valid license and medical certificate. Members of Congress are exploring safety recommendations aimed at keeping medically unfit commercial truck drivers off highways. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has called officials of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to a Thursday hearing to explain why the agency hasn't fully implemented recommendations made nearly seven years ago. (AP Photo/Bill Haber, File)


"Because so few attempts are made to authenticate a certificate, there is little risk that a driver will be caught if he or she forges or adulterates a certificate," according to the report, which was obtained by The Associated Press.

The Transportation Committee's study was based on a sample of 614 medical certificates obtained from truck drivers at roadside inspections in California, Illinois and Ohio. The committee's staff attempted to contact the medical examiners named on the certificates but could only verify 407 as valid.

One Ohio doctor contacted by the committee said forgery of medical certificates is so commonplace "no one gets alarmed by it anymore."

The committee called officials of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to explain at the hearing why the agency hasn't fully implemented recommendations made nearly seven years ago on how to keep medically unfit truck drivers off the road. The witness list also included officials from the National Transportation Safety Board, which made the recommendations.

FULL story at link.

[izzie]

1. But I was told all business can police them self

I guess I can not believe that a society that is run by business is always the best way.

[Wapsie B]

2. Give 'em all stringent medical exam requirements,

no end-run around the law. And put GPS in all the trucks on the road, every last one of 'em. No more paper log books.