Truckers Driving Under The Influence
It is one thing to operate a car or other passenger vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol, but it is quite another to drive a commercial vehicle in that condition. This is especially true if you are a truck driver. Think about how much larger a commercial semi truck is than your average car. They’re not called the kings of the road for nothing.
In addition to being so large, it takes a much longer time for a semi truck to brake, meaning that a trucker needs to have top notch reflexes. Drinking or taking drugs can impair those reflexes, and thus impair their ability to drive the truck. When you think about how much damage a fully loaded semi could do just by casually bumping into a car, you don’t want to imagine what would happen if one just slammed right into you. It would be ugly to say the least.
To compensate for the differences like size and ease of vehicle control, a truck driver is legally impaired with a lower BAC than a driver of a regular car would be allowed to have by law. Presently, the federal law prohibits truck drivers from operating their commercial vehicle if they have a 0.04% BAC or more. Reducing the BAC for truck drivers has had positive results and has lowered the number of accidents with trucks over the last few years.
There is a common problem among truck drivers. They have such unrealistic deadlines to keep that they fell the need to use drugs such as stimulants and marijuana to keep them awake to meet deadlines or face the possibility of being fired by the company they work for. This is dangerous since they can impair the same as alcohol. Some resort to getting meth which is said to be quite easy to find at truck stops. The blame is hard to put on one and is most likely shared between truckers and demanding schedules from the company.
Fortunately truck drivers for all companies are subject to random drug tests. It doesn’t matter what they happen to be doing, they could be getting ready to head out, and then suddenly have to report to their supervisor’s office to submit to a test. This is another example of implied consent, having accepted their Commercial Driver’s License they have consented to these tests and have no grounds to refuse. If they do refuse they are subject to termination from the company or at the very least some sort of fine.
This is always a situation that is serious enough that it will have to be looked further into. It is even more serious than a normal DWI, because of the number of lives potentially at stake. Every driver of a passenger car who has to drive next to a semi truck will want some sort of assurance that they are safe and that the truck driver won’t be suffering some problems, like flashback to a war he was in, just because he had took some substance to help remain awake.
For the truck driver he needs to keep in mind that there are many innocent lives at risk should he give in to temptations or pressure from deadlines The bottom line is to get the sleep you need, it’s partly your responsibility.
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