The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has declared Mexico-licensed commercial driver Cecilio Eliut Camacho-Montoya, 32, to be an imminent hazard to public safety after a deadly crash in Idaho.
He was served with a federal order on June 9 banning him from operating any commercial motor vehicle in interstate commerce in the U.S., according to the federal agency.
Camacho-Montoya was at the wheel of a tractor-trailer on May 19 on Highway 55 in Eagle, Ada County, Idaho, when he ran a red light at the intersection of Highways 55 and 44. His semi crashed into another vehicle, killing the 22-year-old driver.
Expired license, failed sobriety tests
He had an expired Mexican commercial driver’s license (CDL).
Following the crash, three sobriety tests were administered to Camacho-Montoya at the scene by the Idaho State Police. Camacho-Montoya failed all three tests. He registered a 0.22 blood alcohol level, more than double Idaho’s legal limit of 0.08, according to police.
Possessing an alcohol concentration of greater than 0.04 while operating a commercial vehicle weighing more than 26,001 pounds and requiring a CDL is a violation of federal safety regulations.
The state of Idaho has charged Camacho-Montoya with felony vehicular manslaughter and felony excessive DUI in connection to the deadly crash.
Falsified records
A subsequent investigation by FMCSA personnel found that Camacho-Montoya, in the days leading up to the crash, on multiple occasions had falsified his records of duty status (RODS) and had exceeded the allowable on-duty driving hours permitted by federal regulations.
FMCSA’s imminent hazard out-of-service order states that Camacho-Montoya’s “disregard for the safety of the motoring public … substantially increases the likelihood of serious injury or death to you and motoring public if not discontinued immediately.”
Camacho-Montoya may not operate a commercial motor vehicle in the United States until such time he successfully completes the statutorily required return-to-duty process overseen by a substance abuse professional, according to the FMCSA.
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