Harger: Deadly semi-truck crash shows why Washington must fix its CDL system
Aug 21, 2025, 8:52 AM | Updated: 4:55 pm
Our safety is on the line. We have a serious problem with Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDL) in Washington, and we need to clean up our act, fast.
Three people were killed last week when a semi-truck driver made an illegal U-turn on the Florida Turnpike, blocking all lanes. A minivan slammed into the trailer, and the driver is now charged with three counts of vehicular homicide.
The driver held two commercial driver’s licenses, and he’s in the country illegally. That alone makes him ineligible for a CDL, yet somehow, he had two. One from California, and another from Washington.
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After the crash, investigators said he failed an English proficiency test, answering just two of the 12 questions correctly, and he couldn’t identify basic road signs.
Investigators said he first got his CDL here, in Washington. Then he transferred it to California, and later got another one back here. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has launched a full investigation into how any state allowed this to happen.
This isn’t the first time Washington’s licensing system has come under fire. Earlier this year, a truck driving school in western Washington was shut down after investigators found it was mailing cash to a state tester. The bribe guaranteed unqualified drivers would pass the test, without ever touching a truck.
When the Department of Licensing (DOL) retested those drivers, the results were alarming: eighty percent failed.
Eighty percent shouldn’t have been behind the wheel of an 80,000-pound rig. Some drivers transferred their licenses to other states, where retesting isn’t required.
This isn’t a bureaucratic hiccup. It’s a risk to all of us on the road. Fake licenses, bribed exams, unqualified drivers sharing the highway with your kids and mine.
These aren’t one-off failures. They’re systemic breakdowns in the DOL to follow rules or enforce them.
Let’s be clear. This is a failure, by our state and others, to keep dangerous drivers off our roads.
The state DOL needs intense scrutiny. Every driver must be fully qualified, tested, fluent in English, and legal to drive here. Cut the shortcuts. Shut down the crooked schools. Don’t tolerate it.
Here’s the reality: When an unqualified driver misses a stop sign, it’s not just paperwork. It’s a family in a minivan that doesn’t make it home.
A commercial driver’s license should be a promise of safety. When that promise is broken, everyone pays the price.
Charlie Harger is the host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here. Follow Charlie on X and email him here.
