When a driver commits serious or multiple violations of traffic laws, the state of Texas can suspend or even revoke their driver’s license. If they are then discovered to be driving without a valid license, they can face serious penalties. Truck drivers can also have their commercial driver’s licenses suspended or revoked. In some particularly serious cases, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) can also declare a driver to be an “imminent hazard to public safety” and can order that the driver remains out of service as a commercial operator.
Under 49 CFR 386.72, an imminent hazard is one that “substantially increases the likelihood of serious injury or death if not discontinued immediately.” Such a hazard can be any of the following:
- A commercial driver
- A commercial trucking operation/company
- A vehicle in dangerous condition
- Intermodal equipment
If you are a business looking to hire a trucking company or a trucking company looking to hire a new driver, you can search a database of out of service orders provided by the government to ensure that the prospective company or driver has not been declared to be an imminent hazard to public safety.
Texas Driver Declared to be a Hazard
A recent example of a commercial truck driver who was deemed to be an imminent hazard to public safety is a driver from Texas who caused a head-on crash with a smaller vehicle after crossing over a median. Following the crash, investigations revealed the following:
- The driver had marijuana and PCP in his system
- The driver had been on the road for at least 21 hours in violation of hours of service regulations
- The driver had inadequate records of hours of service
In addition to losing his ability to ever drive a commercial vehicle, the driver may face both civil and criminal penalties.
Discuss Your Accident with an Experienced Houston Semi Truck Collision Attorney
Dangerous truck drivers or companies put all of us on the road in harm’s way. If you have been injured in a truck accident, you need a highly experienced Houston big rig crash lawyer on your side. Call the legal team at the office of Stewart J. Guss, Attorney at Law at 800-898-4877 today.
1 https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/386.72
2 https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/safer-out-of-service-orders-fmcsa-out-of-service-orders
