Qualification of Drivers; Exemption Applications; Vision |
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Larry W. Minor
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
6 April 2020
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 66 (Monday, April 6, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19224-19226]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-07119]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA-2020-0006]
Qualification of Drivers; Exemption Applications; Vision
AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of applications for exemption; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: FMCSA announces receipt of applications from eight individuals
for an exemption from the vision requirement in the Federal Motor
Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) to operate a commercial motor
vehicle (CMV) in interstate commerce. If granted, the exemptions will
enable these individuals to operate CMVs in interstate commerce without
meeting the vision requirement in one eye.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 6, 2020.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by the Federal Docket
Management System (FDMS) Docket No. FMCSA-2020-0006 using any of the
following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=FMCSA-2020-0006. Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: Docket Operations; U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building Ground Floor,
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
Hand Delivery: West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140,
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.,
ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays.
Fax: (202) 493-2251.
To avoid duplication, please use only one of these four methods.
See the ``Public Participation'' portion of the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION section for instructions on submitting comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Christine A. Hydock, Chief,
Medical Programs Division, (202) 366-4001, fmcsamedical@dot.gov, FMCSA,
Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Room W64-224,
Washington, DC 20590-0001. Office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., ET,
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. If you have questions
regarding viewing or submitting material to the docket, contact Docket
Operations, (202) 366-9826.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Public Participation
A. Submitting Comments
If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this
notice (Docket No. FMCSA-2020-0006), indicate the specific section of
this document to which each comment applies, and provide a reason for
each suggestion or recommendation. You may submit your comments and
material online or by fax, mail, or hand delivery, but please use only
one of these means. FMCSA recommends that you include your name and a
mailing address, an email address, or a phone number in the body of
your document so that FMCSA can contact you if there are questions
regarding your submission. To submit your comment online, go to http://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=FMCSA-2020-0006. Click on the ``Comment
Now!'' button and type your comment into the text box on the following
screen. Choose whether you are submitting your comment as an individual
or on behalf of a third party and then submit.
If you submit your comments by mail or hand delivery, submit them
in an unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for
copying and electronic filing. If you submit comments by mail and would
like to know that they reached the facility, please enclose a stamped,
self-addressed postcard or envelope.
FMCSA will consider all comments and material received during the
comment period.
B. Viewing Documents and Comments
To view comments, as well as any documents mentioned in this notice
as being available in the docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=FMCSA-2020-0006 and choose the document to review. If you do
not have access to the internet, you may view the docket online by
visiting the Docket Operations in Room W12-140 on the ground floor of
the DOT West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590,
between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal
holidays.
C. Privacy Act
In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits comments from the
public to better inform its rulemaking process. DOT posts these
comments, without edit, including any personal information the
commenter provides, to www.regulations.gov, as described in the system
of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at
www.transportation.gov/privacy.
II. Background
Under 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315(b), FMCSA may grant an exemption
from the FMCSRs for no longer than a 5-year period if it finds such
exemption would likely achieve a level of safety that is equivalent to,
or greater than, the level that would be achieved absent such
exemption. The statute also allows the Agency to renew exemptions at
the end of the 5-year period. FMCSA grants medical exemptions from the
FMCSRs for a 2-year period to align with the maximum duration of a
driver's medical certification.
The eight individuals listed in this notice have requested an
exemption from the vision requirement in 49 CFR 391.41(b)(10).
Accordingly, the Agency will evaluate the qualifications of each
applicant to determine whether granting an exemption will achieve the
required level of safety mandated by statute.
The physical qualification standard for drivers regarding vision
found in Sec. 391.41(b)(10) states that a person is physically
qualified to drive a CMV if that person has distant visual acuity of at
least 20/40 (Snellen) in each eye without corrective lenses or visual
acuity separately corrected to 20/40 (Snellen) or better with
corrective lenses, distant binocular acuity of at least 20/40 (Snellen)
in both eyes with or without corrective lenses, field of vision of at
least 70[deg] in the horizontal Meridian in each eye, and the ability
to recognize the colors of traffic signals and devices showing standard
red, green, and amber.
[[Page 19225]]
On July 16, 1992, the Agency first published the criteria for the
Vision Waiver Program, which listed the conditions and reporting
standards that CMV drivers approved for participation would need to
meet (57 FR 31458). The current Vision Exemption Program was
established in 1998, following the enactment of amendments to the
statutes governing exemptions made by Sec. 4007 of the Transportation
Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), Public Law 105-178, 112 Stat.
107, 401 (June 9, 1998). Vision exemptions are considered under the
procedures established in 49 CFR part 381 subpart C, on a case-by-case
basis upon application by CMV drivers who do not meet the vision
standards of Sec. 391.41(b)(10).
To qualify for an exemption from the vision requirement, FMCSA
requires a person to present verifiable evidence that he/she has driven
a commercial vehicle safely in intrastate commerce with the vision
deficiency for the past 3 years. Recent driving performance is
especially important in evaluating future safety, according to several
research studies designed to correlate past and future driving
performance. Results of these studies support the principle that the
best predictor of future performance by a driver is his/her past record
of crashes and traffic violations. Copies of the studies may be found
at https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=FMCSA-1998-3637.
FMCSA believes it can properly apply the principle to monocular
drivers, because data from the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA)
former waiver study program clearly demonstrated the driving
performance of experienced monocular drivers in the program is better
than that of all CMV drivers collectively.\1\ The fact that experienced
monocular drivers demonstrated safe driving records in the waiver
program supports a conclusion that other monocular drivers, meeting the
same qualifying conditions as those required by the waiver program, are
also likely to have adapted to their vision deficiency and will
continue to operate safely.
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\1\ A thorough discussion of this issue may be found in a FHWA
final rule published in the Federal Register on March 26, 1996 and
available on the internet at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-1996-03-26/pdf/96-7226.pdf.
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The first major research correlating past and future performance
was done in England by Greenwood and Yule in 1920. Subsequent studies,
building on that model, concluded that crash rates for the same
individual exposed to certain risks for two different time periods vary
only slightly (See Bates and Neyman, University of California
Publications in Statistics, April 1952). Other studies demonstrated
theories of predicting crash proneness from crash history coupled with
other factors. These factors--such as age, sex, geographic location,
mileage driven and conviction history--are used every day by insurance
companies and motor vehicle bureaus to predict the probability of an
individual experiencing future crashes (See Weber, Donald C.,
``Accident Rate Potential: An Application of Multiple Regression
Analysis of a Poisson Process,'' Journal of American Statistical
Association, June 1971). A 1964 California Driver Record Study prepared
by the California Department of Motor Vehicles concluded that the best
overall crash predictor for both concurrent and nonconcurrent events is
the number of single convictions. This study used 3 consecutive years
of data, comparing the experiences of drivers in the first 2 years with
their experiences in the final year.
III. Qualifications of Applicants
Terry M. Baldwin
Mr. Baldwin, 55, has had retinal dysplasia in his left eye since
birth. The visual acuity in his right eye is 20/20, and in his left
eye, light perception only. Following an examination in 2019, his
optometrist stated, ``Since Mr. Baldwin has been living his entire life
with his left eye vision deficit, he has obviously made compensatory
adaptations and has sufficient vision to perform driving tasks required
to operate a commercial vehicle.'' Mr. Baldwin reported that he has
driven straight trucks for 16 years, accumulating 166,400 miles. He
holds an operator's license from Pennsylvania. His driving record for
the last 3 years shows no crashes and no convictions for moving
violations in a CMV.
Samuel L. Eakman, Jr.
Mr. Eakman, 51, has a prosthetic in his right eye due to a
traumatic incident in childhood. The visual acuity in his right eye is
no light perception, and in his left eye, 20/20. Following an
examination in 2019, his optometrist stated, ``Considering Mr. Eakman
has had a Commercial Drivers License since 2011 and has performed those
tasks without issue, I feel he has sufficient vision to perform driving
tasks and has long ago recognized other ways of determining object
spacing other than actual binocular vision.'' Mr. Eakman reported that
he has driven straight trucks for 23 years, accumulating 575,000 miles.
He holds a Class AM CDL from Pennsylvania. His driving record for the
last 3 years shows no crashes and no convictions for moving violations
in a CMV.
Raymond C. King
Mr. King, 34, has had amblyopia in his left eye since childhood.
The visual acuity in his right eye is 20/30, and in his left eye, 20/
50. Following an examination in 2019, his ophthalmologist stated, ``Mr.
King has sufficient vision to operate a commercial vehicle.'' Mr. King
reported that he has driven straight trucks for 4 years, accumulating
200,000 miles, and tractor-trailer combinations for 6 years,
accumulating 525,000 miles. He holds a Class A CDL from Ohio. His
driving record for the last 3 years shows no crashes and one conviction
for speeding in a CMV; he exceeded the speed limit by 15 mph.
Robert G. Lanning
Mr. Lanning, 58, has had amblyopia in his left eye since birth. The
visual acuity in his right eye is 20/20, and in his left eye, counting
fingers. Following an examination in 2019, his optometrist stated, ``I
certify that my patient, Robert G. Lanning, has sufficient vision to
perform the driving tasks required to operate a commercial vehicle.''
Mr. Lanning reported that he has driven straight trucks for 15 years,
accumulating 300,000 miles. He holds an operator's license from
Virginia. His driving record for the last 3 years shows no crashes and
no convictions for moving violations in a CMV.
Gary D. Larson
Mr. Larson, 25, has a macular scar in his right eye due to a
traumatic incident in childhood. The visual acuity in his right eye is
20/150, and in his left eye, 20/20. Following an examination in 2020,
his optometrist stated, ``In my medical opinion, I believe Mr. Larson
has sufficient visual capabilities to perform the driving tasks
required to operate a commercial vehicle.'' Mr. Larson reported that he
has driven straight trucks for 3 years, accumulating 156,000 miles. He
holds an operator's license from Nebraska. His driving record for the
last 3 years shows no crashes and no convictions for moving violations
in a CMV.
Larry Owen
Mr. Owen, 70, has had a retinal detachment in his right eye since
2014. The visual acuity in his right eye is counting fingers, and in
his left eye, 20/20. Following an examination in 2020, his optometrist
stated, ``In my medical opinion, Mr. Owen has sufficient vision to
perform the driving tasks required to operate a commercial vehicle.''
Mr.
[[Page 19226]]
Owen reported that he has driven buses for 14 years, accumulating
700,000 miles. He holds an operator's license from Texas. His driving
record for the last 3 years shows no crashes and no convictions for
moving violations in a CMV.
John C. Perrone, Jr.
Mr. Perrone, 21, has had amblyopia in his right eye since
childhood. The visual acuity in his right eye is 20/150, and in his
left eye, 20/20. Following an examination in 2019, his ophthalmologist
stated, ``Patient has sufficient vision to perform the driving tasks
required to operate a commercial vehicle.'' Mr. Perrone reported that
he has driven straight trucks for 3 years, accumulating 9,750 miles. He
holds an operator's license from Pennsylvania. His driving record for
the last 3 years shows no crashes and no convictions for moving
violations in a CMV.
Ronald D. Wilson
Mr. Wilson, 58, has had optic nerve atrophy in his left eye since
birth. The visual acuity in his right eye is 20/20, and in his left
eye, light perception only. Following an examination in 2019, his
optometrist stated, ``As far as I can conclude, Mr. Wilson is visually
competent to operate a commercial vehicle.'' Mr. Wilson reported that
he has driven straight trucks for 35 years, accumulating 1.4 million
miles, and tractor-trailer combinations for 12 years, accumulating
240,000 miles. He holds a Class DA CDL from Kentucky. His driving
record for the last 3 years shows no crashes and no convictions for
moving violations in a CMV.
IV. Request for Comments
In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315(b), FMCSA requests
public comment from all interested persons on the exemption petitions
described in this notice. We will consider all comments and material
received before the close of business on the closing date indicated
under the DATES section of the notice.
Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2020-07119 Filed 4-3-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P