Be careful if you drive a commercial vehicle and English isn’t your first language! Most people don’t think about it, but if you can’t converse well enough with the officer who pulls you over, even for a minor traffic infraction or a routine inspection, you can be ticketed and it can cost you up to $500. That’s a pretty hefty sum to pay just because you aren’t fluent in English…and now the Federal Government wants to make the law even more strict, making it increasingly difficult for people who come here from a foreign country to get commercial driving jobs. It only makes sense that a person should know enough English to talk to the police in case there is an accident or other problem, but whether a person speaks English well enough is largely a judgment call.
Whether you’re a United States resident or even a US citizen doesn’t matter, and if the law is changed English will have to be spoken during the written and road test in order to pass. Right now, parts of these tests can be taken in a person’s native language through the use of an interpreter, but that will change if the proposed adjustments to the law take effect – and Congress doesn’t have to approve the change. It’s certainly worth some thought for those who run trucking companies and have drivers whose English is questionable.
