Aug. 26 (UPI) — California, Washington, and New Mexico will lose federal funding unless they adopt and enforce English language proficiency requirements for commercial motor vehicle drivers, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy announced Tuesday.
The three states have 30 days to comply before the department will withhold up to 100% of funding from the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program, a press release from the Transportation Department said.
“We have wonderful tools that will make it very difficult for states to do business if they don’t comply,” Duffy said at the press conference.
In May, Duffy signed new guidance for commercial motor vehicle drivers who don’t follow the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s English-language proficiency requirements and will be placed out of service.
“States don’t get to pick and choose which federal safety rules to follow,” Duffy said in the statement. “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. Under President [Donald] Trump’s leadership, we are taking aggressive action to close these safety gaps, hold states accountable, and make sure every commercial driver on the road is qualified to operate a 40-ton vehicle.”
Duffy spoke at a press conference where he referenced the Aug. 18 truck crash on the Florida Turnpike in St. Lucie, Fla. The crash killed three people, and it was determined that the driver of the truck didn’t understand English road signs, Duffy said. The driver, Harjinder Singh, 28, is from California. He was charged with three counts of vehicular homicide and is being held on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer.
California has not adopted or enforced the law to ensure drivers can speak and understand English, the press release said. Washington and New Mexico have adopted the ELP regulation but are not enforcing it, Duffy said.