Passenger Trains > NJ Transit: OK, we'll look at DWI records

NJ Transit has announced it will review motor vehicle records for its passenger locomotive engineers.  It has been under fire in recent days for its limited policy of reviewing engineer motor vehicle records.  Random drug and alcohol checks for safety sensitive jobs will continue.

Several legislators have said they will move legislatively to require the DMV to report changes in status to NJ. Not clear how PA or NY resident employees would be affected.


Check daily

I love the "cans of worms" stuff.

If you get drunk and get arrested for driving drunk on a Tuesday, there is no way to prove you cannot safely operate a train a few days later.  You can penalize a person for what a person has done on the job (including failing a test), but penalizing a person for what you fear they might do seems awfully unfair and awfully unamerican.

And, do you need a valid motor vehicle drivers licence to operate a train in NJ?

This is like the transgender bathroom issue.  It wasn't a problem until people tried to solve a problem that wasn't a problem.  Now, Constitutional rights and definitions of protected classes and all kinds of stuff come into play, and it goes way beyond  something you can fit on a bumper sticker or on the front of an old guy cap.

JS

 

melloj Wrote:
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> If you get drunk and get arrested for driving
> drunk on a Tuesday, there is no way to prove you
> cannot safely operate a train a few days later. 
> You can penalize a person for what a person has
> done on the job (including failing a test), but
> penalizing a person for what you fear they might
> do seems awfully unfair and awfully unamerican.

So you are against random drug testing also?

The privilege of working on the railroad comes with a number of responsibilities.  For engineers, that should include the legal ability to operate a motor vehicle by staying free of drugs and alcohol on the job, and driving under the influence convictions.  Someone who lacks the judgement to discern whether they should drive home from the bar after having 8 beers probably is not the best person to be operating a locomotive.

abyler Wrote:
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> So you are against random drug testing also?
>
> The privilege of working on the railroad comes
> with a number of responsibilities.  For
> engineers, that should include the legal ability
> to operate a motor vehicle by staying free of
> drugs and alcohol on the job, and driving under
> the influence convictions.  Someone who lacks the
> judgement to discern whether they should drive
> home from the bar after having 8 beers probably is
> not the best person to be operating a locomotive.

And the existing CFR has mechanisms in place to deal with infractions, should they occur.  Nobody is saying it's OK to let someone operate a locomotive under the influence.  Random tests screen for drugs AND alcohol, and are much more stringent in what is considered a violation.  The person who the original WABC news story focused on, had his license revoked NEARLY 10 YEARS AGO for failing to complete a rehab program.  However, if he was subjected to a NJT rehab program, and completed it successfully, the CFR says he could be recertified.

As near as I can tell, the DWI's in question were nearly 10 and 15 years ago.  Why the huge uproar now, after he has successfully passed numerous random screenings at NJT?

Airline pilots, and for that matter all pilots have been affected by their DMV records for years. If you have had even 1DUI it's very difficult to get a medical certificate, without that your pilots license is invalid. This is the world we live in

mmm1000 Wrote:
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> Airline pilots, and for that matter all pilots
> have been affected by their DMV records for years.
> If you have had even 1DUI it's very difficult to
> get a medical certificate, without that your
> pilots license is invalid. This is the world we
> live in

Coast Guard is no different when it comes to this for Merchant Mariner credentials.  It is taken very seriously.   Even more so if you need to enter a foreign country...

I have been in a random program for over 2 years and still have no been tested...  Just saying..