Tuesday, Jul. 29, 2008

Unfit at any speed

Regulators look away while medical issues make many truckers, bus drivers unsafe

WASHINGTON -- Beverly Garrett slowed her car in congested traffic during a family trip along Missouri's Interstate 70, but the 70,000-pound tractor-trailer behind her, its driver slumped over the steering wheel, crashed into her Ford sedan at full speed.

The horrific crash killed Garrett, her mother, aunt and niece.

A Missouri jury acquitted the driver, George Albright Jr., 63, this month on four counts of second-degree involuntary manslaughter after his lawyers argued in court that a diabetic episode "put him in an altered state of consciousness." Albright wasn't injured in the June 2006 crash, which happened about 30 miles east of Columbia, Mo.

In similar accidents across the United States, tractor-trailer and bus drivers have suffered seizures, heart attacks or unconscious spells behind the wheel that led to deadly crashes on highways. Hundreds of thousands of drivers carry commercial licenses even though they also qualify for full federal disability payments, according to a new U.S. safety study obtained by The Associated Press.

The problems threatening highway travelers persist despite years of government warnings and hundreds of deaths and injuries blamed on commercial truck and bus drivers who blacked out, collapsed or suffered major health problems behind the wheels of vehicles that can weigh 40 tons or more.

The U.S. agency responsible for cracking down on unfit truckers, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, acknowledges it hasn't completed any of eight recommendations that safety regulators have proposed since 2001.

One would set minimum standards for officials who determine whether truckers are medically safe to drive. Another would prevent truckers from "doctor shopping" to find a physician who might overlook a risky health condition.

"We have a major public safety problem, and we haven't corrected it," said Gerald Donaldson, senior research director at the Washington-based Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, whose members include consumer, health and safety groups, and insurance companies.

"You have an agency that is favorably disposed to maintaining the integrity of the industry's economic situation."

Truckers violating federal medical rules have been caught in every state, according to an AP review of 7.3 million commercial driver violations compiled by the Transportation Department in 2006, the latest data available.

Texas, Maryland, Georgia, Florida, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Alabama, New Jersey, Minnesota and Ohio were states where drivers were sanctioned most frequently for breaking medical rules, such as failing to carry a valid medical certificate. Those 12 states accounted for half of all such violations in the United States.

Some truckers say the government should enforce existing rules, not make new ones.

"Do you enjoy your clothing and house? Without the truck driver, you would have none of it," said Gary Hull, 52, a trucker for a Louisiana company, as he drove from Edinburg, Texas, to Mansfield, La. "Our economy is based on the truck. People don't understand the ramifications of making it more restrictive for truck drivers to drive."

Hull said most drivers are hard workers who earn a modest salary and cope with rising diesel prices. New regulations could add to costs and force truckers to evade the rules, he said.

"There are enough government regulations as it is," agreed Ken Cornell, interviewed at a truck stop. "The medical profession should be able to take care of it. If they have a condition where they shouldn't be driving, they should be able to catch them."

The Transportation Department said 5,300 people died in crashes involving large commercial trucks or buses in 2006, the latest year for which figures are available, and about 126,000 more were injured.

A federal safety study last summer found that cases where drivers fell asleep, suffered heart attacks or seizures, or otherwise were physically impaired were a leading cause of serious crashes involving large trucks. But those cases included healthy drivers who fell asleep.

"The problem is major," said Dr. Kurt Hegmann, chairman of the federal motor carrier administration's medical oversight board, which is urging more doctor visits in many cases for truckers with serious medical conditions. "It's one of the biggest causes of occupational death in the United States today."

The GAO study said 563,000 commercial drivers were determined to also be eligible for full disability benefits over health issues. It said disability doesn't necessarily mean a driver is unfit to operate a commercial vehicle, but its investigators found alarming examples that raised doubts about safety. They identified more than 1,000 drivers with vision, hearing or seizure disorders, which generally would prohibit a trucker from obtaining a valid commercial license.