Every day, hundreds of America's commercial truck and bus
drivers climb into their rigs with serious physical or mental problems, power up their
80,000-pound behemoths and head for the highway.
The drivers' medical problems range from life-threatening
heart conditions to unreported epilepsy, from uncontrolled diabetes to undiagnosed but
highly dangerous sleep disorders.
The Post-Gazette's Steve Twedt examines the issues in this
two-part series.
Part I
Lapse in regulations
fails to keep drivers with medical problems out of the most dangerous vehicles
Key
medical requirements for a Commercial License
NTSB
chief concerned about safety of commercial road rigs
Ex-trucker
wishes he had hidden heart problems that took license
Driver
scouted to find doctors he could fool
Part II
Insulin-using
truckers fight to stay on the road
Interstate trucker rules hammer diabetic drivers
Ignorance
of regulations paves way for unfit drivers
Sleep
disorder may be hidden problem for truck, bus drivers
Restrictions,
use of waivers vary greatly by state
UPDATES
Editorial: 1.20.00 -- Editorial: Keep on trucking
- safely
Reaction: 1.21.00
-- NTSB to seek fitness rules for truck and bus drivers
Update: 12.18.00 -- Federal regulators to tighten medical checks on truckers
