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When Truckers Are Under The Influence

10.02.2009 · Posted in Home and Garden Articles

It is dangerous enough when a person operates a passenger car or average size vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs but to drive a commercial vehicle while under the influence is quite another. This is especially true for semi truck drivers. Think how small you feel in your car when one is next to you on the road.nnOn top of just being a large sized vehicle, a truck also needs more time to brake and that requires a driver who has great reflexes. Since drinking alcohol or consuming drugs can impair reflexes, the driver is then considered to be impaired. If you consider what can happen if a fully loaded truck can cause in terms of damages if it just lightly bumps into a car, then you don’t want to know what can happen if it slammed at full speed into the same car! It is not a pretty sight, to put it mildly. nnAs far as alcohol goes, a truck driver only needs to have a low BAC to be considered impaired. Considering how large a truck is, and how much more difficult it is to control than a standard car, this is perfectly acceptable. Federal law currently prohibits and truck driver from operating their truck or any other commercial truck so long as they have a BAC of 0.04%. This has helped to greatly decrease accidents in recent years.nnOther impairment can include drugs such as marijuana and stimulants. Many truckers believe that they need stimulants to keep themselves awake on the road. It’s true that many truckers are pushed to the limit by being forced to keep insane deadlines and perhaps even threatened with termination from the company they work for if they don’t make it. This has resulted in many truck drivers seeking out drugs such as ****, which is apparently easy to find at any truck stop on their route. Whose fault is this? It’s hard to say whether it’s the truckers, or the company, but it’s clear that there needs to be some review of policies here.nnIt is a good thing that all truck drivers from all companies are required to undergo random testing for drugs in their system. The tests can be done at any time, including right before the driver is set to leave for a job. By accepting the Commercial Driver’s License, all truck drivers give their implied consent to drug testing and there is absolutely no reason that a refusal is allowed. If the truck driver does refuse a drug test, then they can be fired from their job or will receive a fine. nnThis 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. nnIf you happen to be a truck driver, then always keep in mind that safety comes first. Always ensure that you get enough sleep and don’t give in to any temptations along the way. Many lives are at stake when driving a truck and it is part of your job to make sure that others are safe from you.

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