How Do You Find Out if a Semi Truck Driver Has Failed a Drug or Alcohol Test?
Outside of the context of a lawsuit stemming from an injury or fatal accident involving a semi truck, it is very difficult, unfortunately. Semi truck drivers are required to take drug and alcohol tests after accidents they cause or contribute to that result in injuries or serious property damage. They are supposed to take those tests as soon as possible after the accident so that any alcohol or drugs in their system can be detected. The trucking companies that employ semi truck drivers are supposed to educate their drivers about, and enforce, these federally required post-accident drug and alcohol tests.
Are drug and alcohol tests always taken by a semi truck driver after causing a serious injury accident? No. It is very common in lawsuits against semi truck drivers and trucking companies after a serious accident to find that the truck driver never bothered to take the required post-accident drug and alcohol tests. Unfortunately, there are often no ramifications or penalties for these truck drivers who ignore this federal regulation.
Likewise, after a serious accident, if the semi truck driver does bother to take the post-accident drug and alcohol tests and fails, it may be very difficult for anyone to find out about it and identify these unsafe drivers. There is no national or statewide Florida database that documents semi truck drivers who fail post-accident drug and alcohol tests. Employers who take applications from drivers who want to drive a semi truck are supposed to check into the applicant's background and see if he/she has failed a drug or alcohol test in the past. This requirement is often ignored. However, even where prospective employers try to obtain this information, they may not find it if a prior employer did not keep adequate records about their employees' drug and alcohol tests.
Fortunately, Arkansas has developed a statewide database that documents and discloses drug and alcohol tests for semi truck drivers. Trucking companies are required by Arkansas law to report all failed drug and alcohol tests of semi truck drivers (this applies to drivers originating from any state, not just Arkansas) to the state so that information can be added to the database. Trucking companies are also required to search the database to see if a driving applicant has failed a drug or alcohol test.
With this law, at least in Arkansas, trucking companies cannot claim ignorance when they fail to perform the proper background check on an applicant who later causes a serious accident because he/she has a drug or alcohol problem. Hopefully, Florida and other states will implement a similar law so extremely dangerous semi truck drivers can be identified and prevented from driving a semi truck.
