Although Federal law requires that all commercial truck drivers undergo a medical exam every two years, what the law does not specify is what type of medical professional may administer the exam. At this point, a chiropractor or nurse practitioner can sign off on the medical exam of a truck driver, meaning this is a considerable loophole which can allow truck drivers with physical impairments to remain on the road. A 2008 congressional investigation showed that as many as one out of three medical certificates issued to truck drivers cannot be verified.
These certificates were either issued by doctors who don’t exist, or were issued by a doctor who later denies ever examining the truck driver, meaning the certificate was fraudulently issued. Because certain governmental websites supply blank medical certificates, drivers may fill out the certificate themselves, forging the signature with a doctor’s name they’ve found in the phone book, and a medical license number they’ve looked up on the Internet.
No Authentication for Medical Certificates
Due to the fact that it rarely becomes necessary to authenticate a medical certificate, there are many drivers on the highways today with a forged medical certificate or one from a marginal medical professional with few medical credentials. The bottom line is there are no training requirements for the issuance of medical certificates for interstate commercial truck drivers, and only minimal standards for what medical issues must be examined. If a trucker is denied by one doctor, he can try another until he finds one who will sign off on his medical certificate.
No Electronic Database for Medical Certificates
Although there are databases for nearly everything these days, there currently exists no electronic database for the medical certificates of truck drivers. When a truck driver is stopped and an officer requests the medical certificate, they either don’t have the time to call the doctor and verify the signature, or if they do call, the doctor is prevented from revealing any medical issues regarding the truck driver because of medical privacy laws. The fine for driving a commercial truck without benefit of a medical certificate is negligible, meaning truck drivers will keep on driving regardless of whether or not they have a valid, properly issued medical certificate which gives them a clean bill of health.
Truck Drivers Who Drive Under Medically Impaired Conditions
A final finding of the congressional investigation was that over half a million truck drivers are currently receiving full medical disability benefits—a staggering statistic which tells you that there are a significant number of medically unfit truck drivers covering hundreds of miles each day on our nation’s highways. Hundreds of deaths occur each and every year when a medically unfit truck driver either falls asleep from exhaustion or suffers a stroke, or heart attack behind the wheel. Over five percent of commercial truck drivers have been diagnosed with sleep apnea, while as many as fifteen percent routinely get less than five hours of sleep per night.
There are over 16 million trucks on the road in the United States, and for every 100 million of miles these trucks drive on the nation’s highways, there are three deaths and over sixty injuries caused strictly by eighteen-wheelers. There is no contest between an 80,000 pound truck and a 5,000-8,000 pound passenger vehicle in the event of an auto crash, and although the truck drivers are generally unhurt in an accident, the people in the passenger vehicle fare less well. If you’ve been injured in an accident, which was the result of, a trucker who was driving impaired, driving under a falsified medical certificate, or simply driving in a negligent or reckless manner, you must contact an experienced Mississippi truck accident attorney immediately who is knowledgeable about trucking accidents specifically. You need time to heal, so let a qualified attorney handle the details of your claim while you try to regain your life. Call us today for a free consultation.