Study Finds that Truck Drivers are Forging Medical Certificates

It is not that difficult to fabricate medical certificates that are required to operate commercial trucks on U.S. highways and according to a congressional study, there isn’t much of an incentive for truck drivers to obtain legitimate documents. That means there are potentially a large number of truck drivers on the roads in Kentucky who are medically unfit and should not be operating a tractor-trailer or other large truck. Medically unfit truck drivers can cause serious large truck accidents.

A study was conducted by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that discovered that there are very few controls over how truck drivers obtain medical certificates. Currently, there is no database that can be accessed by state investigators to verify the legitimacy of a medical certificate provided by a truck driver.

According to the congressional report, “Because so few attempts are made to authenticate a certificate, there is little risk that a driver will be caught if he or she forges or adulterates a certificate.”

The study examined a sample of 614 medical certificates from truck drivers that were obtained at roadside inspections in California, Illinois and Ohio. When the Transportation Committee’s staff tried to contact the examiners listed on the medical certificates, only 407 could be verified as valid.

Drivers of tractor-trailers and buses have been known to suffer seizures, heart attacks and unconscious spells, which have been contributing factors in thousands of serious truck accidents. In 1999, a motor coach accident in New Orleans that killed 22 received attention after it was discovered that the bus driver had suffered life-threatening kidney and heart conditions. His license was valid though and he had a medical certificate. One of the passengers saw the driver slumped in his seat moments before the fatal crash.

One U.S. safety study showed that hundreds of thousands of drivers carry commercial licenses, despite the fact that they also qualify for full federal disability payments.

The National Traffic Safety Board has recommended that examiners who certify truck drivers as medically fit be qualified and know what to look for. It has also been recommended that a system be established to track medical certificate applications.

If you have been injured in a Kentucky tractor-trailer accident, contact the experienced truck accident attorneys at Gray and White Law at (502) 637-6000 or (800) 637-6033 for legal advice. We are experienced in handling large truck crash cases in Kentucky.