Posted on 03/14/2008 4:01:53 AM PDT by Man50D
Mexican truck drivers allowed to travel throughout the U.S. under a Bush administration demonstration project may not be proficient in English, despite Department of Transportation assurances to the contrary.
A brochure on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's website instructs Mexican truck drivers, "Did you know … You MUST be able to read and speak English to drive trucks in the United States."
Still, at the Senate Commerce Committee oversight hearing Tuesday, Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters and DOT Inspector General Calvin L. Scovel III reluctantly admitted under intense questioning from Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., that Mexican drivers were being designated at the border as "proficient in English" even though they could explain U.S. traffic signs only in Spanish.
In the tense hearing, Dorgan accused Peters of being "arrogant" and in reckless disregard of a congressional vote to stop the Mexican trucking demonstration project by taking away funds to continue the project. Toward the end, the senator asked if it were true Mexican truckers could explain U.S. traffic signs only in Spanish when given English proficiency tests at the border.
"Does the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration test for English proficiency at the border include questions about U.S. highway signs?" Dorgan asked.
"Yes," Scovel replied. "The FMCSA English proficiency test at the border did not originally include U.S. highway signs, but now it does."
"Do you show a driver an octagonal 'STOP' sign at the border and qualify him if he explains the sign means 'ALTO'?" an incredulous Dorgan pressed.
"Alto" is the Spanish word for "Stop."
(Excerpt) Read more at worldnetdaily.com ...
Speechless.
executives and politicians are putting us in flyover country ALL AT RISK OF SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH, all for a couple of lousy extra dollars they can enjoy in the safety of their gated communities away from the unwashed masses and the border they have helped destroy. i hope they all get incurable diarreah
Typical.
meh, most of you have agreed to vote in Mccain. I say stop the rino’s at their root. we can survive 4 years of hillary/obama...barely. we wont survive 8 of mccain.
GRRRREAT post! BTTT!
No Habla...
But should we be surprised at any of this...
I believe the trucks should be specially tagged, and be readily identifiable by ANYONE on the roads in our country...
Oh wait...Ok, I was just reminded...
— small diameter steering wheel, made of chrome chain links so they can drive with handcuffs on...
— fuzzy dice hanging from the mirror...
— Some Azteca scene painted on the tailgates or running boards or something...
— a relief sticker of the Virgin Mary on the rear window...
— badges...(I know this will draw the usual response ;-)
Dorgan’s a Rat and I usually disagree with him, but he is spot on target with this.
Do you show a driver an octagonal ‘STOP’ sign at the border and qualify him if he explains the sign means ‘ALTO’?” an incredulous Dorgan pressed.
“Alto” is the Spanish word for “Stop.”
Have these guys ever driven in Mexico???
“ALTO” only means “STOP” if you do not see anyone in the other road crossing your own...
Geesh...And even then its based upon who’s bigger or more intimidating if a stop actually occurs...
Mexican truck drivers take English exam in Spanish
__________________________________________________
Well that will work...
/s
Hmmm. Google says "MexiCain" hasn't appeared at FR. 'Guess somebody has to do it!
You know what...Everytime I see this picture posted it kinda makes me chuckle a bit as well...But only for a second or so, and then I want to break out “ole painless”...
And do my Chucky Cheese “Whack a Mole” impression on every single one of these goobers...
Actually ... I was planning on using English, but if they'll put cute little signs and icons near the place I make my mark ... I'll struggle through it.
Does that "Amigo" program, hawked on TV have this?
I'll call the next time I see that commercial.
brb
Me, too! LOL
Brought to you by the letter “B” (for Bush).
I have gone from truly liking the man, to wishing and praying for his impeachment. We have lost more of our national Sovereignty in the last 7 years than the last several presidents combined (at last in my poor and often defective point of view).
And his support of McCain does nothing to persuade me to cast my vote for McInsane....
You have been trumped and scooped, this time.
Cheers!
Many service members live overseas and do not speak the native language of their host countries. They still acquire driver's licenses and do just fine.
I got my driver's license after I'd been in Germany for a few months and only spoke about a dozen words of German. The workbook was in English as was the test.
No, you don't have to speak English to drive in America.
You hit on a point that's been bothering me for a really long time.
Could it actually be a better strategy to do a write-in for president, vote for Republicans in Congress, then wait and get a real conservative/libertarian in the White House four years from now? Maybe 4 years of liberal BS would be worth it.
One of the talking heads was saying a couple of weeks ago, "It took a Carter to give us a Regan."
4 years of McLaim will ensure 20 of democrat control..
This is just another example of Taxation Without Representation. We pay the taxes and our elected representatives represent Mexicans instead.
Rev. Jim: "Pss... Hey, Bobby... what's Spanish for 'stop.'"
Bobby: "Alto"
Rev. Jim: (in a high pitched voice): "what's Spanish for 'stop'"
I-490 Back Open After Tractor-Trailer Crash
Last Update: 2/21 2:17 pm
Rochester, N.Y. — State police say a tractor-trailer carrying apples tipped over Thursday morning because the driver was going too fast.
The tractor-trailer crashed on I-490 East at S. Goodman St. at 10:10 a.m. Thursday morning, blocking all eastbound lanes. Traffic was also closed westbound while the accident was cleaned up.
Both directions of traffic on the highway reopened shortly before noon. No other vehicles were involved in the crash.
Rochester Fire Department crews were called to the scene to deal with a diesel fuel leak from the vehicle.
The driver, Jacinto Zeas-Barrera, 42, Newark N.J., was not seriously injured. Witnesses and the police investigation revealed that the truck tipped over because the driver was going to fast through the 40 MPH zone.
The accident is still under investigation, and charges are pending.
THE DRIVER DID NOT SPEAK ENGLISH, NY STATE POLICE HAD TO BRING IN A SPANISH SPEAKING TROOPER TO INTERVIEW THE MAN.
Just another example of the fact that those who we vote into office work for others, not the American People or their country.
Think no further than the super tanker contract being given to a foreign entity at a time when recession is the word of the day, not to mention the fact that getting replacement parts will become a bargaining chip or even a weapon by a nation becoming more and more controlled by Islamacists.
Thanks for posting that pic.
I've been searching for those laughing jackasses and couldn't find it.
To drive professionally, ie get paid for it, you MUST speak and comprehend English. The Commercial Drivers license has many more rules to it.
Yes, but in Germany they use international road signs. We don’t use them here, most of our signs have written instructions in English.
I have gone from truly liking the man, to wishing and praying for his impeachment. We have lost more of our national Sovereignty in the last 7 years than the last several presidents combined (at last in my poor and often defective point of view).<<
"I've treated you respectfully today, Secretary Peters, but I don't respect your decision," Dorgan said. "You have angered me further with your testimony and you reflect a Bush administration that obviously doesn't care what Congress thinks."
We have enough bad truck drivers born here already. Tell me again what country Bush is President of?
>>Yes, but in Germany they use international road signs. We don’t use them here, most of our signs have written instructions in English.<<
Also, there are large digital text signs on freeways that display important information, such as freeway closings or Amber alerts. Will they alternate printing such messages in English and Spanish now? I can read Spanish, but if you don’t, and you are driving at 70MPH, you will have to slow down to 30MPH to wait for the English message to scroll?
>>Think no further than the super tanker contract being given to a foreign entity at a time when recession is the word of the day, not to mention the fact that getting replacement parts will become a bargaining chip or even a weapon by a nation becoming more and more controlled by Islamacists.<<
I have the same concern. Russia owns a significant share of Airbus, and not only has Putin become less friendly to us lately, but Russia has very long-term relations with a certain country that wants to wipe Israel off the map. Where did Stalin insist on meeting with Roosevelt and Churchill in 1943? You guessed it, Tehran.
I have three words: Olga Marina Franco.
Ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
Do you feel safe knowing someone who can’t read a road sign or understand when a DOT officer says - in English - “your truck is not safe, you are out of service” - is driving an 80,000 pound vehicle on the same roads as your family?
There are many reasons the FMCSA regulations require those driving big trucks speak English - it’s not just getting your license or reading a stop sign.
I doubt many of those Mexican driver have ever been to Germany.
— fuzzy dice hanging from the mirror...
— Some Azteca scene painted on the tailgates or running boards or something...
— a relief sticker of the Virgin Mary on the rear window...
— badges...(I know this will draw the usual response ;-)"
What? No blaring boom box? No teenie, weenie tires?
Wish I could prove you wrong, ding.
What German company did you drive for, and what cargo did you haul?
< ? >
Thought so; there's a vast difference between getting a garden-variety passenger car license and a haulage license. Mexicans, Italians, Germans, even Brits that drive on the wrong side of the road -- all can use their home country license in the States to rent a passenger car. None of them can drive a truck or a bus.
*I* didn't drive huge semi trucks in Germany.
But my husband and many other soldiers sure did.
They had 18 year old US soldiers driving huge trucks loaded with equipment all over Germany. (So it's even worse. These kids had very little driving experience, in addition to language barrier issues.)
When we stop do these things in other countries, then we can put a stop to the practice here.
>>They had 18 year old US soldiers driving huge trucks loaded with equipment all over Germany. (So it’s even worse. These kids had very little driving experience, in addition to language barrier issues.)<<
More to the point, how much experience do you have driving on Mexican highways? Have you been in your lane going straight ahead when a Mexican truck traveling in the opposite direction decides to pass and forces you to the shoulder? I’m not talking about rare occurrences, this is standard practice there. Have you seen a driver stopped by the Mexican police pay “la mordida” and no record of the incident is filed? Again, this is normal in Mexico.
>>When we stop do these things in other countries, then we can put a stop to the practice here.<<
With all due respect, BS. Since Union Carbide released enough methyl isocyanate in Bhopal, India, to kill 3000 people it’s OK if foreign companies do that here?
Sorry, Marie, but driving in a military convoy is vastly different than going OTR on your own. Back in the 60's I drove all over the bases I was assigned to, but didn't have any civilian license for outside the gate.
My sincere thanks to you and your husband for your service -- yes, you served too, and all to often we tend to forget that.
I know this...granting illegal aliens any break at all opens the floodgates of second-guessing and reinterpretation of law. The law means what it says and that will have to do despite a RINO or a Democrat Presidency.
>>I know this...granting illegal aliens any break at all opens the floodgates of second-guessing and reinterpretation of law.<<
You got that right. I wonder if McCain, if elected, would nominate a judge who would invent new “alien rights.” I don’t trust any of the remaining candidates.
>>The law means what it says and that will have to do despite a RINO or a Democrat Presidency.<<
From your lips to God’s ears.
Good stuff! Must add to the list...;-)
I also think they throw a black bag over the head of every newly elected as soon as their foot touches the D.C. street to hustle him or her off to their first programming session/reality check. And the people I know regard ME as overly optimistic.
God bless America - I loved her dearly.
>>I also think they throw a black bag over the head of every newly elected as soon as their foot touches the D.C. street to hustle him or her off to their first programming session/reality check.<<
I think that is part of the story, but the POTUS candidates themselves stopped listening (although they pretend to listen) long before the election.
Nice pic.
But IMHO, it would make a much stronger statement if you shrunk it down so the entire pic could be seen at once on a monitor.
Plus, you’d be showing some compassion for those of us stuck on dialup.
If you don’t have thumbnail software, try this, it’s free:
http://fookes.com/ezthumbs/index.php
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