New York is among many states that continue to offer Commercial Driver’s License tests in multiple languages, despite federal officials urging states to ensure drivers speak English.
Trump administration officials subpoenaed the New York Department of Motor Vehicles this week to hand over the driving records of a non-English-speaking Chinese immigrant who crashed a tour bus in Virginia last week, killing five people.
The Department of Transportation ordered the DMV to hand over all records related to the commercial driver’s license obtained in New York by Jing Sheng Dong, 48, who is charged with five counts of involuntary manslaughter after plowing his bus into slowed traffic on I-95 in Virginia on May 29. The crash killed an entire family driving home to Massachusetts.
Mr. Dong, a naturalized U.S. citizen, does not speak English, federal officials said, and the crash renewed demands that states stop issuing licenses to drivers who cannot speak, write or read English.
“If you can’t be properly trained, read our road signs, or communicate with law enforcement, you have no business driving a bus,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.
All 50 states must administer the CDL driving and skills test in English and interpreters are not allowed. But only a few states are getting around to changing the written test to English only.
A Transportation Department spokesperson said Mr. Duffy “is working to bring that same standard to the written exam.”
Mr. Dong obtained his CDL in 2024 in New York, which, according to the DMV’s website, continues to offer the written CDL test in Spanish, Chinese and Russian, in addition to English.
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration officials are digging into Mr. Dong’s CDL records. Officials said they issued the subpoena to the New York DMV because they were unable to obtain the information “through other reasonable means.”
Virginia State Police said Mr. Dong “failed to slow for traffic,” ahead of a construction zone on I-95.
According to federal officials, Mr. Dong refused to take an English proficiency test on Monday.
Mr. Duffy said federal investigators “are reviewing New York licensing records, training documentation, and the driver’s history. Any company, trainer, or school that contributed to putting an unqualified driver on the road will face intense scrutiny.”
The New York DMV complied with the subpoena by Wednesday’s deadline, and federal officials are reviewing how Mr. Dong obtained a CDL despite not understanding English.
“The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will look at every angle of this driver’s training and licensing, and we will hold any state, training school or company accountable that put a dangerous driver behind the wheel,” the Transportation Department spokesperson said.
Earlier this year, Mr. Duffy said the federal government would begin requiring all CDL license holders to speak English.
New York is among several states that currently allow those seeking a CDL to take the written test in multiple languages.
California offers the CDL written “knowledge” test in English, Arabic, Chinese, Punjabi, Russian and Spanish.
The federal government last year threatened to hold back $40 million in federal funding from California for failing to enforce English proficiency standards for CDL holders at traffic stops. The state later agreed to enforce the standards at traffic stops.
Mr. Dong was already facing a speeding citation at the time of the Virginia bus accident.
He was scheduled to appear in Anne Arundel County Court for driving 72 miles per hour in a 50 miles per hour zone. On Tuesday, his lawyer entered a guilty plea on that charge. Mr. Dong remained hospitalized due to injuries from the bus crash.
House Republicans in March introduced a bill that would tighten the requirements for obtaining a commercial driver’s license. It would ban non-citizens and those who are not lawful permanent residents from obtaining CDLs and would require applicants to pass the CDL test in English.
Many other states continue to offer the written part of the commercial driver’s license test in multiple languages.
Massachusetts expanded written CDL test offerings in 2024 to include Spanish and Portuguese. Colorado offers its written CDL test in Spanish. Washington state offers the exam in Spanish, Russian and Serbo-Croatian. In Virginia, the written CDL exam can be taken “in several languages,” the DMV website said.
In most states, the written exam for operating a HAZMAT truck must be taken in English.
Texas and Florida recently changed their CDL testing rules to require all applicants seeking a commercial driver’s license to take the written test in English.
Texas transportation officials announced the change on Monday.
“These evaluations are a critical measure to ensure drivers possess the necessary communication skills for on-road safety and compliance with federal regulations, and any commercial vehicle driver who does not meet the proficiency standard will be placed out of service,” officials at the Texas Department of Public Safety said.
The Washington Times has reached out to the Transportation Department.
