Transportation chief takes action on English tests for truck drivers

(NewsNation) — Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned California, Washington and New Mexico could lose millions in federal funding if they fail to enforce English language proficiency standards for commercial truck drivers.

The announcement Tuesday followed a deadly crash in Florida, in which a truck driver is accused of making an illegal U-turn, killing three people. An investigation into the incident found what Duffy called significant failures in the way the three states enforced rules for drivers that took effect in June.

Federal guidelines require truck drivers to pass roadside English tests and demonstrate the ability to read and speak English, though enforcement is left to individual states.

“States don’t get to pick and choose which federal safety rules to follow,” Duffy said. “As we saw with the horrific Florida crash that killed three, when states fail to enforce the law, they put the driving public in danger."

States have 30 days to comply with DOT rules: Sean Duffy

Duffy said California has conducted roughly 34,000 inspections that found at least one violation since the new language standards — requiring truck drivers to be able to recognize and read road signs and communicate with authorities in English — took effect. However, just one inspection involved a violation of English language rules and resulted in a driver being taken out of service.

Additionally, 23 drivers with violations in other states were permitted to continue driving after undergoing inspections in California, Duffy said.

Duffy cited similar statistics in other states, with Washington finding more than 6,000 violations of safety rules during inspections and pulling four drivers out of service for English language violations. New Mexico has not placed any drivers out of service since the rules took effect, Duffy said.

Duffy warned the states would lose money from the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program if they didn't comply with the rules within 30 days, but he did not specify how much. State officials did not immediately respond Tuesday morning.

“This is about keeping people safe on the road," Duffy said. "We all use the roadway, and we need to make sure that those who are driving big rigs, semis, can understand the road signs, that they’ve been well trained, and that when they’re stopped by law enforcement or there's a crash, they can effectively communicate on their rig."

Truck driver charged in deadly Florida crash

Before the deadly crash in Florida, authorities said 28-year-old Harjinder Singh, a native of India, answered two out of 12 questions correctly on an English test and later failed additional language and road sign exams.

Singh reportedly obtained licenses in Washington and California, and was pulled over a month before the crash in New Mexico, where police did not administer a required roadside English test.

"He failed full stop, failed. Couldn't speak the language, couldn't see, couldn't understand road signs," Duffy said. "The bottom line is, follow the rules of DOT in your state, or there will be serious consequences."

Singh, who is also accused of being in the U.S. illegally, has been charged with three state counts of vehicular homicide and immigration violations.

The crash sparked a clash between the Department of Homeland Security and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom over Singh obtaining a work permit and driver’s license in California.

California is one of 19 states, in addition to the District of Columbia, that issue licenses regardless of immigration status, a policy that supporters say allows people to work, visit doctors and travel safely.

Newsom’s press office said Singh obtained a work permit during President Donald Trump's first term, a claim disputed by Homeland Security officials.

Florida authorities have said Singh entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico in 2018.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.