House committee probes medically unfit truckers

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's study--expected to be released at a hearing Thursday--found that there are so few controls over how drivers obtain medical certificates that it's "relatively easy for a motivated commercial driver to circumvent the physical examination requirement." Nor is there any database or central repository which would allow state inspectors to verify the legitimacy of a medical certificate.

"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," according to the report, which was obtained by The Associated Press.

The Transportation Committee's study was based on a sample of 614 medical certificates obtained from truck drivers at roadside inspections in California, Illinois and Ohio. The committee's staff attempted to contact the medical examiners named on the certificates but could only verify 407 as valid.

One Ohio doctor contacted by the committee said forgery of medical certificates is so commonplace "no one gets alarmed by it anymore."

The committee called officials of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to explain at the hearing why the agency hasn't fully implemented recommendations made nearly seven years ago on how to keep medically unfit truck drivers off the road. The witness list also included officials from the National Transportation Safety Board, which made the recommendations.

The NTSB made the recommendations in September 2001 in response to a 1999 motorcoach accident in New Orleans that killed 22. They have lingered on the NTSB's "most wanted" list of safety improvements for five years.

In the New Orleans motorcoach accident, the NTSB said the bus driver, Frank Bedell, 46, suffered life-threatening kidney and heart conditions but held a valid license and medical certificate. A passenger recounted seeing the driver slumped in his seat moments before the crash.

Bedell died three months later of an apparent heart-related illness. Investigators said he was treated at least 20 times in the 21 months before the accident for various ailments.

Tractor-trailer and bus drivers have suffered seizures, heart attacks or unconscious spells while behind the wheel. Such illnesses have been a critical factor in thousands of serious truck accidents.