The CNRT Does Not Conduct DUI Tests for Passenger Drivers
<p><span style="line-height: 20.8px;">A report by the AGN indicates that tests are "incomplete" and only the validity of 1.57% of the licenses verified were delivered in 2005. Furthermore, of the 32 medical providers that the Commission intended to audit that year, it only controlled the performance of three and summary actions arising from the irregularities they found took more than six months to start. Of the 200 physical retests that the watchdog should have performed on the drivers who passed the tests, none were carried out.</span></p>
None of physical controls made by the National Commission for Transport Regulation (CNRT, for its acronym in Spanish) to the city and intercity bus drivers included breathalyzer tests. That's one of the conclusions of a report by the Auditor General’s Office (AGN, for its acronym in Spanish) of 2005 concerning measures to the Commission on the safety of public transportation of passengers.
According to the AGN, the clinics authorized by the CNRT to make psychophysical tests to drivers "do not meet the established guidelines" and the tests are "incomplete." In parallel, the Commission only controlled three of the 32 medical providers which provided audit in 2005, slightly more than 9 percent. However, summary actions arising from irregularities do not begin, the AGN says, "before the 148 working days, on average" a time that offenders "can continue to provide medical service." Moreover, the work of the clinics can be checked by the CNRT through "psychophysical retests" on drivers who won approval from the providers. But while in the reporting year the Commission had planned 200 retests, the AGN found that none were held.
The CNRT may also examine the drivers at the "transportation concentration sites" such as bus terminals and header lines. However, the watchdog found that in 2005 four of the five were operating under terminals, and only 12 of the 20 planned for headers, 60 percent. Moreover, during this period 15 of the 135 urban lines were audited, 11 percent. Apart from this data, only half of these operations were carried out on schedule.
The psychophysical and suitability tests are necessary requirements for drivers to get the national license enabling them to drive passenger vehicles in the country. According to the AGN, the CNRT controlled only "1.57% of the universe of licenses issued in 2005."