NTSB Pushes For Hair Drug Testing of Truck Drivers
The American Trucking Association is encouraging the Department of Transportation to take a deeper look at the impact of impaired truck driving. Drivers under the influence of alcohol or other drugs can be affected by a lack of focus and poor judgment on the road. This can lead to dangerous trucking accidents with injuries and even death. The current process for testing truck drivers is via urine, but the American Trucking Association wants the Department of Transportation to instead use hair samples.
The goal of this change is to curb the number of drivers on the road under the influence of drugs. The ATA argues that too many truck drivers knew how to pass a urine test even when they were under the influence. A drug test of a hair sample, however, would indicate the truth.
Representatives from the ATA believe that it’s the responsibility of the government to make this high quality drug testing tool available to motor carriers across the country. Impaired driving has been a focus for state and federal agencies and legislators recently. The most recent report from the NTSB, for example, is solely focused on reducing incidents of driving impaired by alcohol.
The American Trucking Association believes that the agency can do more to help reduce incidence of impaired truck driving. The sheer size of trucks involved in impaired driving accidents can do serious damage to other vehicles on the road. Drivers in other vehicles may be killed instantly, and if they survive, they may have to spend the remainder of their life recovering from critical injuries. Although hair testing would be a step forward in increasing the number of truck drivers with drugs in their system, the hair test does not provide results about those under the influence of alcohol.
If you or someone that you know has been injured or killed in a trucking accident, you need to obtain the advice of a Texas personal injury lawyer.
