Truck drivers and other holders of a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) are
required by <A
HREF=”http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-boulet072501.shtml”>federal
law to “read and speak the English language sufficiently . . . to
understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English
language.” This law has not been enforced.
Nor will it be, thanks to an <A
HREF=”http://www.englishfirst.org/13166/CDLenglish72403.htm”>announcement
by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that it will neither try
to standardize the English language requirement for CDL applicants nor stop
states from offering CDL tests in other languages:
FMCSA finds no inconsistency in its authorization to States to offer CDL
tests in languages other than English, while at the same time requiring
motor carrier employers to ensure a level of English proficiency for
drivers on our public highways. The tests, training and study manuals
associated with obtaining a CDL are complex. Therefore, the administration
of the CDL test in languages other than English is justified.
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