EXCLUSIVE: Cameras capture truckers unable to read road signs, answer basic questions during Florida crackdown
EXCLUSIVE: Fox News cameras were embedded with federal safety officials in North Florida, where a ride-along captured troubling encounters with truck drivers who couldn’t read road signs or communicate in English.
Shocking video showed investigators taking numerous truckers out of service for safety violations, with some drivers unable to read basic road signs or communicate in English.
During one encounter, a Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) trooper asked a trucker how well he spoke English, to which he replied in Spanish.
When asked if the trucker could speak any English, he replied, "No."
Troopers said that up to half of truckers at some Florida weigh stations cannot meet English proficiency requirements.
"I try to concentrate on the [signs] they have to read," said FHP master trooper Craig Lents. "If you are going down the road at 70 miles per hour, and you see that sign, you only see it for a split second."
In another encounter caught on video, a trooper asked a trucker what a road sign meant.
The trucker replied, "No."
The trooper then asked what drivers should do if they saw the sign, to which the trucker replied, "No," again.
Under the Trump administration, Department of Transportation (DOT) officials are ramping up enforcement of federal English requirements that have been on the books for years.
"It's been the law for a long period of time," said Derek Barrs, Federal Motor Carrier Safety administrator. "It's a safety issue. … If there was a crash or something like that, I would want to make sure that driver would know how to respond — slow down for upcoming traffic or a crash that has happened up ahead."
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Authorities explained that being unable to speak or read English is extremely dangerous, as truckers are driving by important road signs at high speeds while carrying hundreds of tons.
The enforcement push comes after a string of deadly crashes nationwide involving drivers the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claims were in the U.S. illegally or operating with commercial drivers' licenses (CDLs) they should never have had.
In a Florida case, Harjinder Singh, an illegal immigrant from India, was charged in a tractor-trailer crash that left three people dead.
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The tractor-trailer, driven by Singh, allegedly made an illegal U-turn on the Florida Turnpike through an "Official Use Only" access point in St. Lucie County, blocking all lanes of the highway and leading to the crash.
His brother, Harneet Singh, 25, also an illegal immigrant from India, was riding as a passenger at the time of the crash.
Harjinder Singh, who allegedly entered the U.S. illegally and obtained a CDL in California, is facing three counts of vehicular homicide, according to officials.
In an Oregon case, another illegal immigrant from India, Rajinder Kumar, allegedly jackknifed his tractor-trailer, blocking both lanes of U.S. Highway 20.
A Subaru Outback crashed into the truck, killing both the driver, William Micah Carter, and passenger, Jennifer Lynn Lower, according to DHS.
Kumar, who allegedly entered the U.S. illegally near Lukeville, Arizona, was issued a CDL in California, officials said.
He is charged with criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangering.