Thu, Jul 24, 2008 (2:05 a.m.)

Common sense dictates that a commercial truck will cause more damage and a bus will sustain more injuries or fatalities than a car involved in a similar accident. Large vehicles simply pose more danger when they lose control.

That is why it is imperative that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which regulates commercial interstate drivers, ensures that trucks and buses are driven by individuals with the medical clearance to do so. Tragically, that is not always the case.

In a report released Monday, the investigative arm of Congress known as the Government Accountability Office disclosed that 563,000 individuals hold a commercial driver’s license and are eligible for full disability benefits.

While many of these drivers meet medical fitness requirements to safely operate a vehicle, the GAO detailed 15 examples in which “careful medical evaluations did not occur on commercial drivers who were receiving full disability benefits for serious medical conditions.”

These cases included a deaf truck driver in Maryland, a circus equipment hauler in Florida who suffers from fatigue due to multiple sclerosis, and a Florida bus driver who occasionally blacks out because of a breathing problem.

It is no surprise, then, that a 2007 study of truck and bus crashes by the U.S. Transportation Department found that 12 percent were caused by drivers who fell asleep, suffered a heart attack or seizure, or became disabled because of another physical impairment.

We hope the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which is scheduled to hold hearings today based on the GAO report, will demand that the motor carrier agency establish and enforce an effective medical certification process for drivers of interstate trucks and buses. We also urge the agency to deal swiftly and harshly with individuals who provide phony medical documentation to obtain a commercial driver’s license.

If Congress and the agency fail to act accordingly, they will be putting more lives on the line.