In 2025, the reinstatement of English language proficiency (ELP) as an out-of-service (OOS) violation for commercial truck drivers has reignited a long-standing debate. Spearheaded by the Trump administration and Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, the directive aims to enhance road safety by ensuring all commercial drivers can communicate in English.

But does the data support this decision? Or is the focus on ELP distracting regulators from more pressing safety issues like fatigue, impaired drivinget log falsification? As safety agencies and lawmakers scramble to respond, it’s crucial to explore whether language ability—or the lack of it—is truly at the heart of highway safety.

1. The Policy Shift: ELP Returns as an OOS Violation

The executive order reintroduces ELP as an enforceable OOS violation, reversing the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) policy from 2016. Back then, FMCSA and the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) eliminated ELP as an automatic disqualifier, arguing that there was no clear evidence connecting language barriers to crash risk.

The earlier policy allowed officers to use discretion when citing drivers for ELP issues, often accepting compliance aids like:

• Cue cards
• Translation apps
• Human interpreters

Under the new directive, these tools may no longer be permitted, and drivers who lack adequate English skills could be immediately removed from service.

2. The Data Behind ELP Violations

Recent data compiled by FTR Intelligence et Carrier Details paints a detailed picture:

• 15,134 ELP violations recorded over two years
• Texas accounted for 16% of violations, followed by California, Illinois, and Florida
• Surprisingly, trucks with Mexican license plates only made up 3.4% of violations
• Laredo, Texas (a major border hub) emerged as a key hotspot, with 13% of all ELP citations

Yet, enforcement patterns vary widely by state. For example:

• Pennsylvania, Arizonaet Tennessee lead in issuing ELP citations
• Wyoming, despite its small population, ranks eighth in total ELP tickets
• Federal border inspections were only the sixth most common source of violations

This inconsistency suggests that ELP enforcement is highly subjective, often depending more on location than risk.

3. What the Safety Data Shows

Language violations aren’t the leading indicators of whether the goal is safer highways. According to FMCSA and the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI):

• Hours-of-Service (HOS) violations remain the top driver-related OOS offense
• Reckless driving, failure to yieldet improper lane changes are strong crash predictors
• A driver with a past crash is 88% more likely to crash again

By contrast, English language proficiency violations have not shown a strong causal link to crashes—only a correlation with regulatory misunderstandings.

Even the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) acknowledged that most ELP concerns relate to regulatory compliance, not actual driving performance.

4. Education, Not Enforcement, May Be the Solution

The 2016 FMCSA policy shift encouraged officers to focus on driver education et technology-based solutions. The result:

• ELP citations dropped from 83,000 in 2013 à around 7,500 in 2024
• Compliance increased among drivers with longer time in business or prior interventions

Critics argue that removing compliance tools (like translation apps) and focusing on language enforcement could backfire by:

• Distracting from more dangerous violations
• Reducing trust in federal enforcement
• Creating unnecessary barriers for non-native English speakers in the workforce

5. FMCSA & CVSA: Prioritizing Real Risk

Both agencies continue to prioritize high-impact safety initiatives, such as:

• Le Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse, which flagged over 62,000 violations in 2024
• Tamper-proof electronic logging devices (ELDs) to catch HOS violations
• Expanded efforts to track and rate the 94% of U.S. carriers still without a safety rating

These programs target driver fatigue, impairment, and qualification fraud, which are far more predictive of crashes than whether a driver struggles with English.

Conclusion: Language Enforcement Alone Won’t Fix Road Safety

While Maîtrise de l'anglais matters—especially for reading signage, following instructions, and handling emergencies—it is not the most pressing threat to U.S. road safety. The evidence clearly shows that reckless behavior, fatigue, and impaired driving are far more dangerous.

Instead of cracking down on ELP, policymakers might achieve better outcomes by:

• Supporting multilingual safety training
• Promoting accessible compliance education
• Strengthening enforcement of behavior-based violations

Ultimately, returning ELP as an OOS violation may seem like strong enforcement, but it risks missing the real target.

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