Bus driver Jing Dong allegedly killed five people last week, including two children, when he plowed into other vehicles on I-95 in Virginia. Not only was the naturalized U.S. citizen from China unable to speak English, but he also refused an English proficiency test after the crash. So, what was he doing on our roads?
Two more questions: How did Dong gain American citizenship without being able to speak the language, and how did he get a commercial driver’s license? While neither should have been possible, the latter is being investigated by the Department of Transportation, which has subpoenaed the state of New York for information on his CDL, training, and driving school.
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Dong’s crash is just the latest in a string of deadly incidents allegedly caused by immigrants given CDLs without being able to speak English. Just last year, three major incidents generated headlines and caused the Trump administration to crack down on such licenses being given to non-English speakers. Indian illegal immigrant Harjinder Singh allegedly killed three while making an unauthorized U-turn in his semi-truck; Indian illegal immigrant Jashanpreet Singh allegedly killed another three when he slammed his semi-truck into stopped traffic; and Chinese illegal immigrant Yisong Huang allegedly rear-ended a tractor-trailer with his bus while distracted by a phone video, killing one.
In the wake of those incidents, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that roughly 17,000 commercial truck drivers were taken off the roads for failing English proficiency tests. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) tried not to comply with the federal government, while his likely successor, Tom Steyer, called the crackdown “racial profiling.” Looks like the Trump administration should have cracked down even harder.
Being able to read and speak the English language is incredibly important if you’re trying to operate a 20-ton vehicle capable of mass destruction and carnage. You need to be able to read road signs and cooperate with law enforcement, but also, one would expect the formal training to have been in the English language since federal law requires CDL recipients to be proficient in English. Without speaking the language of the country, how well-prepared could Dong have been? Obviously not well enough.
Some have pushed back on those criticizing New York and bus company E&P Travel Inc for allowing a non-English speaker to operate a commercial vehicle, suggesting that the crash may not have been a direct result of Dong’s lack of proficiency but rather general carelessness. To that, my response is twofold: First, Dong would certainly have been better prepared if he spoke the language, and second, five people could still be alive today if New York simply followed federal law.
DUFFY ANNOUNCES ALL COMMERCIAL DRIVER’S LICENSE TESTS WILL ONLY BE GIVEN IN ENGLISH
Moving off CDLs for a moment, it’s just as ridiculous that Dong was able to gain U.S. citizenship without knowing the English language. There are federal English requirements for citizenship as well, with some exceptions for applicants 50 years of age or older, but Dong is 48. So what gives? What’s the point of having English proficiency laws if nobody will enforce them? A nation is only as strong as its rule of law.
In a span of under 12 months, four immigrants given CDLs without speaking English have allegedly taken 12 innocent lives. Would it be so horrible to follow the law and require commercial driver’s license recipients to pass an English proficiency test? The lives saved would certainly be worth the liberal tears.
