It is stunning how often Georgia tractor trailer drivers fall asleep or pass out due to medical conditions while driving heavy commercial vehicles on Georgia roads. In a shocking AP story out this past week, the service revealed that hundreds of thousands of drivers with commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) also are qualified as medically disabled. As an Athens injury lawyer and a former trucking defense lawyer, one of the things that I am acutely aware of is the fact that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety regulations include a requirement that the employer require a strict annual checkup that is supposed to screen out drivers that have dangerous health conditions like severe high blood pressure, diabetes and epilepsy.
The problem is that enforcement is lax. According the article the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has not completed any of the Congressional recommendations made in 2001 to enhance enforcement. Unfortunately Georgia was listed as one of 12 states that are responsible for more than half of the violations.
The end result of this is that there are unhealthy truckers and bus drivers operating 80,000 pound vehicles on our roads. When dealing with an injury or death case, be sure to consult with an Atlanta trucking injury lawyer before discussing the situation with the insurance company for the trucking company.