Image: Senator Janice Bowling speaks at the 2024 Protect Tennessee’s Borders Rally in Nashville Image Credit: Courtesy of Steve Abramowicz
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
Conservative Tennessee State Senator Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma-District 16) has introduced legislation to keep drivers with a commercial license off the roads if unable to read and speak the English language.
Senate Bill 1748 (SB1748) would require that an enforcement officer issue an “out-of-service order” to any driver with a commercial driver license should the officer determine during the course of a safety inspection that the driver is not proficient in reading and speaking English. The proposed legislation lines up with federal requirements and would also apply penalties against the employers of the drivers.
According to the bill’s text, commercial drivers would have their licenses suspended if found to be unable “to read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records.”
The license would remain suspended “until the driver demonstrates an ability to read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records… by means of a test administered by the department of safety and not by a third party.”
The Department of Safety would also be required to develop the English proficiency test that would be mandated to be administered before a driver could get his license back.
Once an out-of-service order is issued, a substitute driver, capable of reading and speaking English, would have to take over operation of the vehicle in place of the original driver.
The employer of the driver given an out-of-service order would be charged with a Class C misdemeanor and given a citation punishable by a fine of $500.
President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order last year requiring that drivers of commercial vehicles be properly qualified and also be proficient in English.
During the 2025 legislative session, Tennessee lawmakers failed to pass a bill with similar requirements for those seeking to drive on state roads.
Legislation that two Republican lawmakers sponsored, requiring all written driver license testing within the state to be administered in English only, did not make it out of the House Transportation Subcommittee with members of the subcommittee voting to defeat it 5 to 3.
Currently, the Tennessee Department of Safety offers the exams in several languages including German, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish, in addition to English.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
2 Responses
Are we so naive to believe only 18-wheeler/commercial vehicles can kill/hurt??Don’t just ban commercial drivers BAN ALL DRIVERS “until the driver demonstrates an ability to read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records… by means of a test administered by the department of safety and not by a third party.”
Good, hope it ain’t killed in committee.