Truck drivers need to be required to speak English

Media General News Service
Published: August 6, 2008

There may be a few universal signals that all drivers understand, but when it comes to driving a commercial truck or a bus in this country, the operator should know how to speak English.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has proposed new federal regulations that would strengthen the nation’s current laws regarding English and the operation of commercial vehicles. The law now says that a licensed commercial operator must speak English well enough to converse with law-enforcement officers.

The proposal would require all commercial-license applicants to speak English during their road tests and vehicle inspections. They are now allowed to use interpreters at these stages.

The operation of a commercial vehicle is no small matter. By nature of their work, truck and bus drivers have a tremendous impact on public safety and commerce. Considering that the language used in this country is English, people who are trusted with the responsibility to operate such potentially dangerous vehicles must be able to communicate, and be communicated to, in the language most of us use.

By requiring strong English skills for the license, the government will also be reducing the likelihood that illegal immigrants are licensed to drive commercial vehicles.

The Associated Press recently reported on a case of a Mexican national who was ticketed in Alabama for being unable to communicate adequately with a trooper. While we’re not judging the case, it does demonstrate potential dangers that the tougher restrictions would remedy.

In the case, the Mexican, who was driving here legally on a visa, was fined $500. He says he speaks and understands English well. The trooper disagreed. The driver, who lives in California, says it isn’t worth the cost of contesting the case.

Given the current anti-immigrant sentiment in this country, it is plausible to think that some Hispanic drivers will be harassed and maybe unfairly fined.

So, let’s not leave it to a police officer to decide whether a foreign national or a Yankee knows how to speak English well enough for a commercial license. Let’s have standards set and enforced at the licensing stage. That license will then serve to improve highway safety and to eliminate arbitrary and capricious enforcement of the current regulation.