CDL Question & Answer
QUESTION
From Hon. Leigh Frizzell Hayes
County Court Lee County, Fort Myers, FL
“We have a traffic law enforcement officer who writes citations for drivers with CDLs if they do not speak English. The officer says this is a violation of federal CDL law. Is this accurate or appropriate?”
ANSWER
Mr. Robert Redmond
Senior Transportation Specialist, CDL Division, FMCSA
Under 49 CFR 391.11(b)(2), General qualifications of drivers, there is a prohibition that a person shall not drive a CMV unless he/she:
"Can read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records."
A driver can be put out of service for not meeting this requirement, but there is no Federal requirement to write a citation on the driver. If the officer has authority to write a citation under State law, that is their call. The problem with taking it to court is the judge many times will throw the case out of court because they say it is not the court's jurisdiction to definite "sufficient."
QUESTION
From Honorable Ed Casias,
Summit County Court Judge
I was one of the judges who attended the Traffic Issues for the 21st Century at the National Judicial College in November of 2008. One of the presentations was about “masking” convictions for Over the Road Truckers. I have Interstate 70 in my jurisdiction and am on the west side of Eisenhower Tunnel which goes under the Continental Divide. As you exit the tunnel on the west side, you get stunning views of the Gore Range (my plug for tourism visits to encourage you to come to our county and spend your hard earned dollars J) but you also begin down a 7% grade that spans about 8 miles. For vehicles over 30,000lbs GVW, the speed limit is 30 MPH. For passenger vehicles and other trucks, the speed limit is 60MPH. I get many cases issued by CO State Patrol to CDL drivers for speeding 60 MPH (or greater) in a posted 30 MPH. This is a six point traffic offense instead of a traffic infraction.
Many of these over the road truckers have prepaid legal services who enter for them and ask for a plea bargain. The standard practice of the District Attorney is to reduce this to a charge of speeding 10 to 19 mph over the posted speed limit. Another quirk of CO law is that there needs to be a specific speed issued in the summons and on the guilty plea. With the range that is available, the prepaid legal services ask for a speed of 44 MPH or less in a posted 30 MPH zone I know that this keeps the speeding ticket out of the major traffic violations that have an impact on a CDL driver’s ability to drive. I don’t want to get the State of Colorado into trouble with USDOT or any other agency and for that reason I am asking your input.
After attending the class at NJC, I have allowed the reduction, but have indicated that the speed must reflect 45 MPH in a posted 30 MPH zone. This has led to an increase in my docket because now the truckers are asking for trials instead of accepting the offer. Do you think the scenario I have laid out is “masking?”
On another twist. Speeding 24 MPH or less over a posted limit is a traffic infraction. In CO, the DA does not have to handle infraction cases, so my court has accepted permission from the DA to offer a 4 point ticket, but we still have the masking issue Is the DA’s involvement in reducing the charge a way around the “masking” if in fact it is found to be masking. If so, it seems the “speediest” drivers get the benefit of the DA making the change and not the courts.
ANSWER
Mr. Robert Redmond
Senior Transportation Specialist, CDL Division, FMCSA
Judge Casias,
From the scenarios you have presented, it would not be masking in either case based on the description of masking in the Federal regulations under 49 CFR 384.226. Plea bargaining to reduce the charge before it goes to court and a determination is made is outside of the scope of masking. It would be masking if there was a deferment of judgment or the driver is allowed to enter into a diversion program.
I commend you for your stand on no less that 15 mph over the speed limit when the speed is reduced, but even if you accepted the 14 mph over the speed limit, it would still be plea bargaining and not masking. |
