"Manuel Castillo was driving a truck through Alabama hauling onions and left with a $500 ticket for something he didn't think he was doing: speaking English poorly. Castillo, who was stopped on his way back to California, said he knows federal law requires him to be able to converse in English with an officer but he thought his language skills were good enough to avoid a ticket. Still, Castillo said he plans to pay the maximum fine of $500 rather than return to Alabama to fight the ticket… Federal law requires that anyone with a commercial drivers license speak English well enough to talk with police. Authorities last year issued 25,230 tickets nationwide for violations. Now the federal government is trying to tighten the English requirement, saying the change is needed for safety reasons." [MSNBC]
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"federal law requires him to be able to converse in English"
Shiiiiiit. There goes 60% of the LA population. LOL.
Blackmistressdiva: Your comment was not funny.
Shelly, you are right.
How about those for whom English is the first and only language?
I think Flavor Flav, 50 Cents, GW Bush and their crews should be ticketed or at least walk around with a subtitle-board and translator.
Msim,
I was thinking the same thing. There are plenty of US-born citizens that make my ears bleed when they speak "English."
Commercial drivers should be able to converse with officers in English. I completely agree with that. I have been at the DMV where people have been yelled at because their interpreters are filling out their paperwork.
That being said, the exam should not be offered in other languages if the expectation is a high level of English fluency. The states are just using these drivers as cash cows - charge for the license and then in fines when people are unable to comply. Why else would they bother giving the test in other languages?