Exclusive—Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy: Treating English as a Backseat Language Jeopardizes Roadway Safety
President Donald Trump and I will be taking steps to rescind Obama-era rules to treat English as a second language on the road.
Federal law is clear, a driver who cannot sufficiently read or speak English—our native language—and understand road signs is unqualified to drive a commercial motor vehicle in America. However, President Obama sacrificed driver safety when he lowered the penalty for violators of the English proficiency rule on the road.
This language requirement is in place for obvious reasons. Drivers, especially operators of heavy vehicles, need to understand critical traffic information like warnings for steep grades or dangerous conditions. Commercial drivers must also communicate effectively during essential inspections or emergencies and interact safely with law enforcement. This isn’t complicated. It’s basic common sense. Americans should not be forced to share the road with illiterate truck drivers. Allowing anyone unable to read a stop sign or understand a police officer to operate trucks weighing up to 80,000 pounds directly threatens the safety of both your family and mine.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has documented cases of drivers whose inability to read our signs and speak our language contributed to fatal accidents. For example, in 2019, a semi-truck driver who couldn’t speak English drove down a crowded highway at almost 100 mph blowing past several signs that warned of steep grades and dangerous curves. The driver ultimately hit multiple vehicles in a fatal crash, killing four and injuring others. In January of this year, a fatal collision in West Virginia involved another non-English speaking driver who fled an accident. The driver who fled required an interpreter for the post-crash investigation. That’s unacceptable. The issue is simple: We’re not putting up signs in any other language than English. We’re requiring drivers speak and read English as a bare minimum requirement.
President Donald Trump shakes hands with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy at the White House press briefing room on Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
We will also take all necessary steps so that our state partners and the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance ensure violations are once again treated as a serious safety risk. This is about more than just enforcing the law. It’s about preventing life and family altering tragedies, protecting the integrity of our transportation system, and supporting the qualified, hardworking American truckers who play by the rules and keep our country moving.
President Trump and I are committed to an aggressive deregulatory agenda of cutting red tape. We’re clearing the way for America to build big and beautiful infrastructure again. But one regulation we are not compromising on is the basic requirement that commercial vehicle drivers be proficient in English—our national language. This is a common sense standard that should have never been abandoned. These standards ultimately help immigrants, by encouraging them to learn English which is the language of opportunity in America.
America is a nation with shared culture, values, and traditions. Drivers who want to share our roads, must share our language.
America First means Safety First.
Sean Duffy is the United States Transportation Secretary in the Trump administration.
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