FMCSA Disqualifies Wyoming School Bus Driver

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has disqualified Wyoming-licensed commercial driver David R. Williams after determining he constitutes an “imminent hazard” to public safety and ordered him to immediately cease operating any commercial motor vehicle in interstate or intrastate commerce. Williams was served the federal order on March 16, 2022.

On Feb. 16, 2022, Williams drove a school bus carrying high school students from Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Spearfish, South Dakota for a school event. Williams was pulled over for a roadside inspection after a Wyoming Highway Patrol officer observed him to be following too close and failing to maintain lane control. After failing a field sobriety test, Williams submitted to a breath test which showed an alcohol concentration of approximately .15, well over the .04 threshold for a commercial motor vehicle driver. Also, in-vehicle video evidence showed Williams drinking alcohol both before and while transporting the students. Under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs), drivers with a commercial driver’s license (CDL) are subject to a variety of prohibitions on use of alcohol prior to and while driving CMVs, including a prohibition on using any alcohol within four hours of driving and a prohibition on driving with an alcohol concentration of .04 or greater.    

Williams is now listed as prohibited in FMCSA’s Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse and faces a number of possible criminal charges in Wyoming.

FMCSA’s imminent hazard disqualification order states that William’s “blatant violations of the FMCSRs and disregard for the safety of your school-age passengers and other highway users demonstrated by these actions substantially increases the likelihood of serious injury or death to you and the motoring public.”

Failing to comply with the provisions of the federal imminent hazard disqualification order may result in civil penalties of up to $5,902.  Knowing and/or willful violations may result in criminal penalties.