Court Ruling Makes Drug Testing of Semi Truck Drivers More Reliable
When a semi truck driver causes or contributes to a serious accident, he/she is normally required under the federal regulations to take a drug and alcohol test as soon as possible. Additionally, when a semi truck driver fails a drug or alcohol test, he/she is required to take and pass a subsequent drug or alcohol test before he/she can return to safety-sensitive duties like driving.
In our Shorstein & Lasnetski, LLC Florida Injury Attorney Blog, we have discussed at length the problems with semi truck drivers and trucking companies circumventing these drug and alcohol testing rules, particularly after an accident. It is not uncommon for semi truck drivers to cause a serious or even fatal accident and simply ignore the post-accident drug and alcohol testing requirements. It is also not uncommon for trucking companies to fail to enforce the drug and alcohol testing and refuse to require, or even notify, their drivers to take the tests. When we find out that the semi truck drivers have not taken the required drug and alcohol tests in the context of a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit (which we often do), we take every effort to use that fact against the truck driver and trucking company. However, federal regulators have been lax with punishments for failing to take the required drug and alcohol tests.
We have also seen situations where a semi truck driver will show up for a drug and/or alcohol test after an accident several days later when the results are meaningless or with a sample from a clean person. There has been a lot of discussion in the industry regarding the poor supervision at drug testing sites making it fairly easy to cheat the test. As a result, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) issued a rule making it mandatory for a drug testing facility employee to watch the semi truck driver give the urine sample. In the past, whether or not to have someone supervise the urine sample of a semi truck driver was up to his/her trucking company employer, who may have an obvious incentive to avoid a positive drug or alcohol test after one of their drivers causes a serious accident
Unfortunately, this only applies to those drug and alcohol tests that are required after a semi truck driver has failed a drug or alcohol test and is trying to get back on the road. The DOT determined that those folks are more likely to try and cheat. It does not apply to semi truck drivers who are required to take the drug and alcohol test after causing a serious injury accident or a crash involving a death, although such a semi truck driver would have at least an equal incentive to hide a positive post-accident drug or alcohol test result.
While this ruling certainly will not solve the problems of semi truck drivers driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol and causing serious accidents or avoiding the drug and alcohol tests after such an accident, it does help bolster the credibility of at least one type of drug or alcohol test.
