According to an US safety study presented by The Associated Press, there are over 500,000 tractor-trailer and bus drivers with commercial licenses who declared having a series of medical conditions, thus qualifying "for full federal disability payments."

Every year numerous accidents take place on highways nationwide because truck and bus drivers faint or suffer seizures and heart attacks while behind the wheel. Following these accidents, as some vehicles weigh over 40 tons, many people are killed and even more are injured.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which is in charge with finding the drivers who are unfit for the job and suspending their licenses, is well aware of the fact that it hasn’t taken care of any of the eight recommendations US safety regulators have brought forward since 2001. One of the eight proposals was to set minimum standards for those who establish which drivers are medically fit to drive. Another would make it impossible for truckers to "doctor shop" for finding a physician willing to overlook certain health conditions.

Gerald Donaldson, senior research director at the Washington-based Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, said the nation has a very important public safety problem that has yet to be corrected. He went on to say that the agency is "favorably disposed to maintaining the integrity of the industry's economic situation."

This really is a problem that is affecting all of  the US, as federal medical rule violations have been recorded in every single state; in 2006 alone, the Transportation Department has had 7.3 million commercial driver violations.

As The Associated Press notes, it is still unclear whether or not things will change before President Bush leaves office.