this post was submitted on 28 Apr 2025
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MAGA fans are rejoicing on social media in favor of President Donald Trump's plan to sign an executive order requiring commercial truck drivers to speak English.

Breitbart News reported that Trump would sign the order Monday evening because "President Trump believes that English is a non-negotiable safety requirement for professional drivers." Last month, Trump designated English as "the official language of the United States."

"This is such a big deal! So grateful for this, the roads will be much safer. Like many, I have seen many accidents or near accidents from unqualified drivers," posted @coffeegirlvegas.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Like many, I have seen many accidents or near accidents from unqualified drivers

Can anyone explain how knowing English would reduce traffic accidents? Is it because of detour signs?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

In the US, traffic signs with crucial information are often written in only English text, no symbols, pictograms or anything else that could make it possible to guess what the sign is saying without being able to read English.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Can you please elaborate with some examples if possible? I'm trying to picture this from highways and roadways here in Florida, but I am struggling to get your gist. I will look again on the way home tonight. However I am not a trucker or cdl so I might be oblivious to some.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

This video, Why US Signs Look Different Than The Rest Of The World’s, contains a lot of examples of such US road signs that depend on English text to convey their message:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wzr0GYfRsKI

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Wow, that video conveys exactly the difference, thanks. Seems like a USA stubbornness thing, akin to imperial vs metric system, oy vey.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago

*sniff sniff*

Smells like your food is about to cost even more.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

Not sure about other states, but in mine, the ability to read and understand English is a requirement for getting a license...

Now you could make an argument that's not the same as speaking English, and my rebuttal is "should we ban mute, or speech-impared people from getting a CDL"?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago

I'm not really clear how they would even enforce this. They don't have a database or standard test for speaking english.

FBI: "Do you speak english?"

Driver: "Sí señor. Aber ich lerne auch Deutsch."

FBI: "Fatastich. Guten Abend."

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago

, and my rebuttal is “should we ban mute, or speech-impared people from getting a CDL”?

Well those people are already Undesirables under the rule of el trumpo, so their answer is... yeah?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago
[–] [email protected] 26 points 3 weeks ago

Trump can't even speak English.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 weeks ago

Which will be ignored like the rest of his Executive Orders that don't actually have anything to do with the Executive.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Is there any such requirement for ships in international waters?

English seems a bit too narrow, but I could see one of maybe 10 languages being a requirement (English, Spanish, French, German, Arabic, Mandarin, Russian, Portuguese, etc)

Or perhaps, like the UN requires, at least three on this list.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago

Not sure about ocean shipping, but English is the standard language for Air Traffic Control. Specifically, Aviation English, but that came about through a specific need. The dangers of an air traffic accident are much higher, the training requirements for an air traffic controller or pilot already more involved then a truck driver, and English being the most spoken language in the word, when you include second and third languages, made English being the standard the most logical. I don't know Aviation English, but I would assume it strips out any regional slag or local idioms.

Truck drivers don't need a common language because traffic signage is designed to be readable without knowing being fluent in the language. If you can read the numbers and memorize what the sign shapes mean, you're fine. If something goes wrong, you can pull off to the side. Something you can't just do in an airplane.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

As always another trump "policy" that'll backfire spectacularly

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 weeks ago

Probably won't matter much. No ships means nothing to haul

[–] [email protected] 21 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Who the fuck is supposed to drive the trucks then? I live in (upstate) New York and it seems like even up there a significant population of Mexican truck drivers.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago

Here, if they don't speak English, they are almost all Eastern European or Indian. Lots of Russian, Belarusian, Chechen, etc

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

How does being Mexican mean you don't speak English? Have you never met a bilingual person in your life?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago

I don't think I said they don't speak English. It's usually pretty broken in my experience. They're usually just guys who work long hours at a hard job.

I've actually seen deliveries from all sorts of immigrant drivers, Ukrainian stands out.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

If you ever followed American politics throughout history, you can see how this can easily be abused. Before, you had to take a test to determine if you were smart enough to vote. The test was the same for both whites and minorities, but it was graded differently depending on your race.

What defines "speaking English"?. Is it a basic level, being able to read road signs or being able to speak to dispatch, the loading crew, or ems at a fundamental level? Or is it college level? Will you even be tested if you're white?

With trumps many many anti-minority policies and rhetoric, and his abuse of ice, as well as setting up black sites and selling people to the El Salvadoran concentration camp, it's hard not to think that this will be abused in some way. This is in no way a pro-English law. This is an anti-minority law.

However, cause of how dot and cdls are set up now, I doubt that much will come out of it tbh

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