CALIFORNIA FACING BACKLASH OVER ISSUANCE OF COMMERCIAL DRIVER’S LICENSES AND THE POTENTIAL EFFECTS IN LITIGATION

CALIFORNIA FACING BACKLASH OVER ISSUANCE OF COMMERCIAL DRIVER’S LICENSES AND THE POTENTIAL EFFECTS IN LITIGATION

Recently, a commercial truck driver was charged with three counts of vehicular manslaughter in Florida due to an incident which resulted in the death of three individuals. It is alleged that the driver made an illegal u-turn, causing the commercial truck to jackknife prior to a minivan colliding with the trailer. Following the incident, it was revealed that the driver had a limited-term/non-domiciled Commercial Driver’s License (“CDL”) issued by California.[1] California has now been accused by the Florida Attorney General’s office of failing to comply with federal safety and immigration status requirements.

Adding to the backlash, recently, a commercial truck driver was seen attempting to make a u-turn in a narrow residential street. Additionally, the Department of Transportation has audited California and determined there are “significant compliance failures” and one-in-four non-domiciled CDLs that were reviewed were determined to be improperly issued.

These incidents highlight a key factor that may become the focus of litigation in the future: whether a CDL was issued properly. Currently, discovery in trucking and transportation cases often focuses on a driver’s training and driving history. This may include driving tests conducted by their employer, driver safety videos, driver logs, and their driving record.

However, it is not unlikely that how a driver obtained their CDL will soon become a focus in discovery for trucking and transport cases. According to reports, the driver facing charges in Florida failed his CDL test in Washington ten times before passing. In California, part of the CDL test includes a skills tests, in which the applicant must demonstrate their knowledge of a vehicle inspection, basic control skills and ability to operate the vehicle they are applying for. A driver’s application process, including whether they ever failed the skills test or any other part of the application, may soon become part of the discovery phase for trucking and transportation litigation.

Hopefully, these incidents do not continue to occur, but regardless of what happens, plaintiffs may now look to expand the scope of their discovery related to the qualifications of commercial truck drivers.