A new ruling has just been passed that could affect everyone who shares the road with a big rig truck.
Every two years, commercial drivers are required to submit to a medical examination with the Department of Transporation. Around three million of these are performed every year in order to make sure that the driver’s vision, hearing, and overall fitness is such that highway safety won’t be compromised.
Today’s announcement will make it necessary for all healthcare professionals conducting these examinations to undergo training and testing on how to conduct the procedure. Those persons qualified to perform the examination will receive certification.
To make sure that no one circumvents the rule, a new database is being set up to keep track of all those persons who have passed the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s certification process. Examiners have until May 21,2014 to get on this new database.
The standards that medical examiners are required to follow will go live on the FMCSA’s website in a month. Once the rule is implemented, commercial drivers will need to get their examination only from a person who appears on the aforementioned database.
It will be interesting to a Long Beach car accident attorney like me to see how this measure improves highway safety. We all have to share the road with commercial drivers, so in a sense, this affects everyone in the country. I hope as a personal injury lawyer in Long Beach that this new rule can save some lives.