[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 49 (Wednesday, March 14, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11928-11929]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-4634]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket Nos. FMCSA-00-7363, FMCSA-04-17984, FMCSA-04-18885]


Qualification of Drivers; Exemption Renewals; Vision

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of final disposition.

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SUMMARY: FMCSA previously announced its decision to renew the 
exemptions from the vision requirement in the Federal Motor Carrier 
Safety Regulations for 8 individuals. FMCSA has statutory authority to 
exempt individuals from the vision requirement if the exemptions 
granted will not compromise safety. The Agency has reviewed the 
comments submitted in response to the previous announcement and 
concluded that granting these exemptions will provide a level of safety 
that will be equivalent to, or greater than, the level of safety 
maintained without the exemptions for these commercial motor vehicle 
(CMV) drivers.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Mary D. Gunnels, Chief, Physical

[[Page 11929]]

Qualifications Division, (202) 366-4001, [email protected], FMCSA, 
Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Room 8301, 
Washington, DC 20590-0001. Office hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic Access

    You may see all the comments online through the Document Management 
System (DMS) at http://dmses.dot.gov.

Background

    Under 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315, FMCSA may grant an exemption 
for a 2-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 2-year period. The comment 
period ended on February 2, 2007.

Discussion of Comments

    FMCSA received two comments in these proceedings. The comments were 
considered and discussed below.
    Ms. Sachau believes that the approval or renewal of vision 
exemptions make the roads much more dangerous.
    A review of each record for safety while driving with the 
respective vision deficiencies over the past two years indicates each 
applicant continues to meet the vision exemption standards. To evaluate 
the effect of these exemptions on safety, FMCSA considered not only the 
medical reports about the applicants' vision, but also their driving 
records and experience with the vision deficiency. To qualify for an 
exemption from the vision standard, FMCSA requires a person to present 
verifiable evidence that he or she has driven a commercial vehicle 
safely with the vision deficiency for 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 docket number FMCSA-98-3637.
    Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates) expressed 
opposition to FMCSA's policy to grant exemptions from the FMCSR, 
including the driver qualification standards. Specifically, Advocates: 
(1) Objects to the manner in which FMCSA presents driver information to 
the public and makes safety determinations; (2) objects to the Agency's 
reliance on conclusions drawn from the vision waiver program; (3) 
claims the Agency has misinterpreted statutory language on the granting 
of exemptions (49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315); and finally (4) suggests 
that a 1999 Supreme Court decision affects the legal validity of vision 
exemptions.
    The issues raised by Advocates were addressed at length in 64 FR 
51568 (September 23, 1999), 64 FR 66962 (November 30, 1999), 64 FR 
69586 (December 13, 1999), 65 FR 159 (January 3, 2000), 65 FR 57230 
(September 21, 2000), and 66 FR 13825 (March 7, 2001). We will not 
address these points again here, but refer interested parties to those 
earlier discussions.

Conclusion

    The Agency has not received any adverse evidence on any of these 
drivers that indicates that safety is being compromised. Based upon its 
evaluation of the 8 renewal applications, FMCSA renews the Federal 
vision exemptions for David D. Bungori, Jr., David R. Cox, Timothy A. 
DeFrange, Robert T. Hill, Francisco J. Jimenez, Robert B. Schmitt, Rick 
N. Ulrich, and Larry D. Wedekind.
    In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315, each renewal 
exemption will be valid for 2 years unless revoked earlier by FMCSA. 
The exemption will be revoked if: (1) The person fails to comply with 
the terms and conditions of the exemption; (2) the exemption has 
resulted in a lower level of safety than was maintained before it was 
granted; or (3) continuation of the exemption would not be consistent 
with the goals and objectives of 49 U.S.C. 31136 and 31315.

    Issued on: March 7, 2007.
Larry W. Minor,
Office Director, Bus and Truck Standards Operations.
 [FR Doc. E7-4634 Filed 3-13-07; 8:45 am]
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