Highways: Taming the Truckers

American truck drivers like to think of themselves as kings of the road, but a disturbing number have become mobile menaces, causing truck accidents on interstates to rise from 31,000 in 1983 to 39,000 last year. A provision inserted into the Anti-Drug Abuse Act passed by Congress this month is aimed at putting the brakes on those rising stats. Starting in 1988, truck and bus drivers will be required to pass a federally approved test before being issued a license. At the moment, standards across the country vary. In 20 states, for example, a driver can take his road test in a family sedan, then hit the highway in an 80,000-lb. rig. Beginning next year, long haulers will be banned from holding more than one license, preventing them from distributing citations among licenses from several states and thus hiding bad safety records.