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DANGEROUS DRIVERS * USA - Driver shortage led to trucker screening test being relaxed
Ex-convict involved in overpass collapse passed background checks
Oakland,CAL,USA -The Press Telegram/Associated Press, by Marcus Wohlsen & Aaron C. Davis -1 May 2007: -- Tough rules enacted after Sept. 11, 2001 were designed to strictly limit who can transport hazardous materials on the nation's highways, but experts say a growing truck driver shortage and inconsistent enforcement mean people with checkered backgrounds often pass the screening process... Trucker James Mosqueda, 51, whose gasoline-loaded tanker caused the collapse of a busy highway overpass here, cleared an FBI criminal history check and an intelligence review from the U.S. Transportation Security Administration despite a history of criminal convictions, including felony drug and burglary arrests... The TSA said Tuesday that a review of Mosqueda's criminal record confirmed he had a valid tanker license because his last stint in jail, for heroin possession, ended more than five years ago. But lawmakers and industry experts are questioning rules that allowed someone with Mosqueda's background to operate a truck loaded with more than 8,000 gallons of gasoline... Joe Come, program director for motorcarrier safety for the U.S Department of Transportation Inspector General's Office, said the incident raises a broader issue... "There's a general question of how hard do you want to make it for people to get a commercial driver's license or anything else that can affect public safety," Come said. "Do we hold them to the same standard as airline pilots?"...
Labels: dangerous drivers
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