The Mississippi legislature has passed the “Jesus Take The Wheel Act” which would allow drivers of mid-size church vans of up to 30 people to avoid having to obtain a commercial driver’s license.
The bill was designed to help smaller churches that have limited resources.
This just allows small churches, some don’t have people with commercial licenses at all, and they can pick a person to drive the bus,” Democrat Rep. Robert Johnson of Natchez told the Clarion-Ledger.
The church bus drivers will also not be required to have the state passenger transport endorsement, which is a requirement of most Mississippi bus drivers.
However, CDL drivers in the state are not happy about the law.
“I think this bill is trading the safety of everyone on the road for the convenience of those operating church vehicles,” CDL driver Troy Coll said. “Since the bill covers vehicles up to 30 passengers, we’re not just talking vans with extra rows of seats – these are buses, with long frames and much larger blind spots than passenger vehicles.”
“Obtaining a CDL is not especially difficult,” Coll added, “but the testing does increase the level of scrutiny on drivers, and the medical requirements prevent individuals with poor vision/hearing/motor control or untreated diabetes from driving large vehicles full of vulnerable passengers.”
If it were just the church people at risk here, I wouldn’t have a problem with it. But everyone on the road is at risk. If their untrained drivers kill someone, is the church financial responsible?
Really? Is this the level of stupid we have achieved in this country?
When Jesus said “Suffer the little children to come unto me” I don’t think he meant via traffic accident.
That’s cute. Praise God! Sometimes you just plain need Jesus to take the wheel!