The House of Representatives in Mississippi recently passed a bill that lawmakers claim would help small churches with limited financial resources reduce their transportation costs by allowing driver’s without necessary licenses to steer the wheel for church-owned vehicles. Earlier this month, the House passed HB 132, also known as Jesus Take the Wheel Act, which allows church-owned vehicles that carry less than 30 passengers to be driven by people who do not necessarily have a commercial driver’s license. This provision would apply to even those church-owned vans that transport children from one place to another.
Advocates of the bill say the measure is necessary for churches that have limited financial resources, despite the bill not placing any restrictions on its provisions based on the size of a church’s congregation.
“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,” said House Transportation Committee Chair Rep. Robert Johnson III.
Even if the proposed bill is implemented eventually, it would not make much of a difference to the existing scenario, say critics opposing it, as current laws allow drivers to transport as many as 16 passengers without a commercial driver’s license.
“I think this bill is trading the safety of everyone on the road for the convenience of those operating church vehicles,” said Hattiesburg resident Troy Coll, a CDL-certified driver. “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.”
Critics have been trying to understand why lawmakers in Mississippi would want to spend any more time debating over this rather needless proposal, since all drivers are already allowed to drive up to 16 passengers without a commercial driver’s license.
“Obtaining a CDL is not especially difficult,” Coll explained, “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.”
Photo Credits: Deep Thoughts Penned Down
