In March of 2022, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) disqualified a Wyoming-licensed commercial driver after determining he constituted an “imminent hazard” to public safety and ordered him to immediately cease operating any commercial motor vehicle (CMV), according to an FMCSA news release.
In February of 2022, while driving a school bus transporting high school students for a school event, the driver was pulled over for a roadside inspection by a Wyoming Highway Patrol Officer. After failing a field sobriety test, the driver submitted to a breath test which showed an alcohol concentration of approximately .15, well over the .04 threshold for a CMV driver.
In-vehicle video evidence showed the driver to be drinking alcohol both before and while transporting the students. Under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs), drivers with a commercial driver’s license (CDL) are subject to prohibitions on the use of alcohol prior to and while driving CMVs, including a prohibition on using any alcohol within four hours of driving.
The FMCSA’s imminent hazard disqualification order stated that the driver’s “blatant violations of the FMCSRs and disregard for the safety of your school-age passengers and other highway users demonstrated by these actions substantially increases the likelihood of serious injury or death to you and the motoring public.”
The driver is now listed as prohibited in FMCSA’s Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse and faces a number of possible criminal charges in Wyoming. Failing to comply with the provisions of the Federal imminent hazard disqualification order may result in civil penalties of up to $5,902. Knowing and/or willful violations may result in criminal penalties.
For more than 25 years, ClearStar has helped transportation clients around the globe succeed by providing them with a full suite of transportation industry screening services that include background checks, drug/clinical tests, physicals, reasonable suspicion, post-accident, and FMCSA screening. For more information, contact ClearStar.
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Thomas Ahearn - News Blog Editor and Public Relations Specialist
Thomas Ahearn is our News Blog Editor and Public Relations Specialist. Our News Blog provides information about the background check industry to employers, HR professionals, recruiters, and consumers. ClearStar's News covers a variety of topics including Ban the Box, credit reports, criminal records, data breaches, drug testing, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), E-Verify, Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), HR technology, identity theft and fraud, jobs reports, lawsuits involving screening, Millennial workforce, privacy issues, social media background checks, and workplace violence.
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