MAGA fans are rejoicing on social media in favor of President Donald Trump’s plan to sign an executive order requiring commercial truck drivers to speak English.
Breitbart News reported that Trump would sign the order Monday evening because “President Trump believes that English is a non-negotiable safety requirement for professional drivers.” Last month, Trump designated English as “the official language of the United States.”
“This is such a big deal! So grateful for this, the roads will be much safer. Like many, I have seen many accidents or near accidents from unqualified drivers,” posted @coffeegirlvegas.
There is already a federal clearing house for DoT drivers, this is for criminal checks and drug tests. They would just put it there.
I hate to be “that guy” … but non English speakers on the road is kind of an issue.
Commerical driving licenses already require English proficiency so this is a non-issue. Now ask yourself why this particular administration is trying to “solve” a non-issue via executive order and not an act of Congress. Hint: It’s a power grab that will be used to the detriment of minorities.
I’m sorry, but the whole thing is ridiculous. Surely you are aware that there are countries (eg your neighbour to the north) that have more than one official language. As far as i know, only one city in Canada has bilingual signage, yet Canadians manage to drive safely all over the country without necessarily having proficiency in both languages. The european union has ??? languages and yet somehow manages to have safe roads. this is all part of trump’s pandering to the racist and xenophobic idiots who comprise his base.
I have to agree with @Wilco@lemm.ee, though the issue is not really while going down the road.
Language barriers become an issue at pickups, drop offs, truck stops, weigh stations and anywhere else where you might need to follow a precise set of oddball instructions.
So, nothing to do with road safety.
If you go through all of the laws and regulations we truck drivers have to follow, you would find that only about half of them have a direct impact on road safety. Most of the others have an indirect impact only.