Driver Problems Hidden By States
A recent MSNBC report video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm, shows how drivers of the 3.2 million tractor trailers registered in the US are being driven by problem drivers. In this instance the driver had 56 violations on his license and had his license suspended seven times by the State of Delaware. Because this was information was not communicated, he was still allowed to drive. The Trucking Companies choice of drivers, and failure to do an adequate background check as required by law, resulted in the death of an innocent man who was simply using the roads to get from point A to point B.
Drivers of Tractor Trailers are allowed to have only one license by federal law. States are supposed to timely communicate information on drivers to a database to allow other states to revoke a bad driver's license. The failure to timely submit the information to the database by a state results, as in the above case, with death on the highways. The States unwillingness to get this information into the hands of the folks who need it for enforcement, and the Federal Government's lack of oversight in this area, is shameful.
