Something else to help the image of the trucker...

[Malaki86]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25784582/

WASHINGTON - Tractor-trailer and bus drivers in the United States have suffered seizures, heart attacks or unconscious spells behind the wheel that led to deadly crashes on highways. Hundreds of thousands of drivers carry commercial licenses even though they also qualify for full federal disability payments, according to a new U.S. safety study obtained by The Associated Press.

The problems threatening highway travelers persist despite years of government warnings and hundreds of deaths and injuries blamed on drivers who blacked out, collapsed or suffered major health problems behind the wheels of vehicles that can weigh 40 tons or more.

The U.S. agency responsible for cracking down on unfit truckers, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, acknowledges it hasn't completed any of eight recommendations that U.S. safety regulators have proposed since 2001.

The story is 3 pages long.

[cdreid]

Its just more heavily spun garbage by people who fear/hate trucks and have an agenda

[Mr. Ford95]

Read it earlier Mal, I agree with some of it but not all of it on both sides of the issue. I can see a national network of doctors approved by the govt. that do physicals and all drivers have to go to those within the network only or their medical card is no good.

[Central Coast Driver]

I'm so sick of MSNBC. Every article they produce is absolute garbage. They seem to forget about all the other vehicles on the road (4-wheelers) that cause far more many accidents every year than those that hold commercial licenses. Driving is dangerous for any and every vehicle on the road. Definetly an agenda behind story's like this.

[HWD]

Its just more heavily spun garbage by people who fear/hate trucks and have an agenda

The entire mainstream media is heavily spun garbage by people who have an agenda, regardless of topic!

I do not watch the "news" anymore and am alot healthier and less stressed as a result.

[Malaki86]

I just happened to look at the national news section of my hometown news and saw that link.

[geeshock]

lol, i don't wory about it, i already have plenty of ppl just snarl and growl at me as they pass me. if looks could kill i'd be dead at least 100 times. definatly not in this job for the respect.

[Windwalker]

Hundreds of thousands of drivers carry commercial licenses even though they also qualify for full federal disability payments, according to a new U.S. safety study obtained by The Associated Press.

Somehow, I have a feeling that someone is OVER-STATING the numbers. I don't doubt that there are some, but I would be fairly certain that they are in the minority. I would suspect that many of them aren't even aware that they fall into that group, and the ones that know about it are looking at the difference in money. I know a couple of people that are collecting the "federal disability payments", and they're only getting $600 a month. Try to live on that. And, especially, when the illegal aliens get far more benefits than that.

[GMAN]

I would like to know how they came up with those numbers. Hundreds of thousands of drivers is hard to believe.

[Ridge Runner]

Someone help me here....... Can you renew your CDL at the DMV without a medical card? If so, then the statement "might" be true. I'm sure there there are many that keep their CDL status but do not "drive" a rig anymore. Just a thought???

[Malaki86]

I know for a fact that in WV you have to take in your current medical card and long form medical in order to get a renewal. I just renewed my cdl in may and I had to have both.

[RebelDarlin]

I guess these figures from the NHTSA didn't fit into their agenda:


Statistics about the vehicles involved in police-reported motor vehicle crashes are presented in this chapter,
according to six major vehicle types: Passenger Cars, Light Trucks (including pickups, vans, and utility vehicles
with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less), Large Trucks (including single-unit trucks and truck
tractors with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 10,000 pounds), Motorcycles (including motorcycles,
mopeds, and motorscooters), Buses (including school buses and transit buses), and Other Vehicles (including
all-terrain vehicles, farm and construction equipment, and motorhomes). The tables and figures are presented for
all vehicle types first, then by individual vehicle type. Below are some of the vehicle statistics you will find in this
section:

ONearly 95 percent of the 10.6 million vehicles involved in motor vehicle crashes in 2006 were passenger cars or light trucks.

OLarge trucks accounted for 8 percent of the vehicles in fatal crashes, but only 3 percent of the vehicles involved in injury crashes and 4 percent of the vehicles involved in property-damage-only crashes. Of the 4,732 large trucks involved in fatal crashes, 74 percent were combination trucks.

OThe proportion of vehicles that rolled over in fatal crashes (21.6 percent) was 4 times as high as the proportion in injury crashes (5.3 percent) and 15 times as high as the proportion in property-damage-only crashes
(1.4 percent).

OCompared with other vehicle types, utility vehicles experienced the highest rollover rates in fatal crashes (35.1 percent) and in injury crashes (9.8 percent). Large trucks experienced the highest rollover rate in
property-damage-only crashes (2.6 percent).

OFires occurred in 0.1 percent of the vehicles involved in all traffic crashes in 2006. For fatal crashes, however,
fires occurred in 3 percent of the vehicles involved.

ORegardless of crash severity, the majority of vehicles in single- and two-vehicle crashes were going straight prior to the crash. The next most common vehicle maneuver differed by crash severity: negotiating a curve for fatal crashes, turning left for injury crashes, and stopped in traffic lane for property-damage-only crashes.

OMotorcycles in fatal crashes had the highest proportion of collisions with fixed objects (24.9 percent), and buses in fatal crashes had the lowest proportion (2.3 percent). 2006 Motor Vehicle Crash Data from FARS and GES

[Mr. Ford95]

Well I can only somewhat speak for VA here. My license isn't up for renewal until July 2011 while my medical card is due for re-upping in May of 2010. I will have had 3 physicals before my next license renewal and unless the doctor's office sent DMV a copy then I reckon they have no idea if I'm fit or not until 2011 when I have to show it to them in person.

[geeshock]

but unless your and independant o/o many companies will make you get it renewed on time or park the truck till you do

[Phantom433a]

The original report was written by the govt. Accountability Office on orders from Congress according to OOIDA

[cdreid]

Rebeldarlin. You should post a link if you can (or did i miss it). Ive had to explain why there are so many trucks on the road and why currently theres nothing anyone can do about it- rail simply wont work now with Just in time etc. I've explained that 4wheelers cause 2/3'ds of accidents with trucks etc etc. If you just keep posting the facts backed by documentation people eventually get it and even help refute the bs.

[RebelDarlin]

Rebeldarlin. You should post a link if you can (or did i miss it). Ive had to explain why there are so many trucks on the road and why currently theres nothing anyone can do about it- rail simply wont work now with Just in time etc. I've explained that 4wheelers cause 2/3'ds of accidents with trucks etc etc. If you just keep posting the facts backed by documentation people eventually get it and even help refute the bs.

No I didn't list a link because it is a PDF file. If you go to this page...at the bottom To access the 2006 Annual Assessment click here.

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/site...wType=standard[/url]