Fung Wah Agrees to Conditions of Service

Yesterday the Fung Wah Bus Line agreed to conditions of operation outlined by State and Federal regulatory agencies. One of the provisions was that they would no longer allow drivers who could not speak or read English to operate their vehicles to make trips between New York and Boston. It isn't clear how many drivers they had in their employ that didn't have a basic command of the English language, but if such a rule is already on the books it could have been enforced as a precaution, not a reaction. Federal requirements for commercial passenger bus lines require that drivers can speak English in case of an emergency. We started to get all up in arms about how there's no official state language, etc, etc, when we remembered that this isn't an issue of rights. State's have the right to issue drivers licenses and suspend them as having a license is a "privilege" and not a "right."

We've looked over the requirements for a commercial driver's license – the kind any Fung Wah driver should carry. It appears to be a more involved version of the Class D license process. A written test, then road test is required. The Fung Wah operating violations seem to be a problem with the initial licensing. Could the State not just enforce their rules for obtaining a CDL? But if the written test is as easy as the test we took to obtain our learner's permit all you really need to know is that the red octagon means stop, triangle with a red border means yield, and if you want to get fancy: speed limit signs are posted in black and white – and theoretically your speedometer shouldn't exceed the number posted on the sign.

According to Flickr user believekevin this photo was taken at a McDonald's stop - we've always gotten a leg stretch break at some random chinese buffet place in CT