TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) — The Trump administration is taking more action to implement commercial truck driver requirements following the fatal highway U-turn crash in St. Lucie County this month. The crash involved 28-year-old Harjinder Singh. He is in custody on three counts of vehicle murder and manslaughter.
The move comes days after Florida Attorney General James Usmieyer wrote to the federal government to withdraw its commercial driver’s license program and federal funds from California and Washington.
Burning tractor trailer on I-4 lamp in Tampa
Gov. Ron DeSantis addressed the issue at a news conference in Tampa this week, saying the state is not permitted to issue commercial drivers’ licenses to illegal immigrants.
“We’re not allowed to issue CDLs to people who don’t understand traffic signs and have the ability to communicate. Still, it seems like they’re going to do it without pushing too much back,” Desantis said.
But now the federal government is pushing back. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has threatened to call California, New Mexico and Washington, among other things, to withdraw millions of dollars.
“This driver was not served in another condition because he couldn’t speak English. And what will they do? They don’t do anything.
The Department of Transport points to an executive order signed by President Trump in April.
“If they don’t get into compliance, we’ll start with withholding this money and then take additional steps,” Duffy said.
Secretary Duffy warned people that this is only Phase 1 and said there will be further actions for those who choose not to follow.
“This Florida driver received the CDL in Washington, California, and was attracted to him for speeding in July and was definitely unable to speak English,” Duffy said.
A fatal crash involving Harjinder Singh has encouraged questions about Florida’s role in arrests. Republican leader Alex Andredo investigated why Singh was released from the scene of the crash in the first place.
When asked that question, DeSantis said that when a criminal offence was committed, it was not clear to troopers.
“If anyone survived, they could have gotten a possible cause on the scene. The witnesses were dead. So the troopers had to resort to getting the video,” DeSantis said.
Secretary Duffy said additional concerns have been raised, especially if the commercial drivers of the test have to take. He plans to investigate whether there are games with this system.
