(The Center Square) – The driver of a big rig car carrier involved in an injury crash Thursday morning in Lacey that brought northbound I-5 traffic to a grinding halt for hours did not have a commercial driver’s license or insurance, according to WA State Patrol.
The crash, which occurred just before 7:30 AM Thursday, blocked several lanes for more than two-and-a-half hours and sent three people to the hospital.
“The gentleman did not have a commercial driver’s license for either Mexico, which is his nation of origin, nor the United States or the state of Washington,” said Chris Loftis with Washington State Patrol in a Friday interview with The Center Square.
Loftis referred to the driver of the car-carrier, Juan Hernandez-Santos of Huentitlan, Mexico, who did not have a CDL or vehicle insurance.
“He was booked in the Thurston County Jail for violation of RCW 46.25.050, which is the regulation requiring a commercial driver’s license,” said Loftis.
It appears from the WSP accident report emailed to The Center Square that the car carrier driver was at fault, initially slamming into the back of a vehicle which had slowed for traffic, triggering a chain reaction crash that involved a school bus and four other vehicles.
Loftis said he could not confirm if the causing driver was legally in the country.
“We don’t participate in immigration enforcement,” he said. “We don’t record or share legal status unless it is part of a criminal investigation of a Washington state crime. So right now the investigation is still ongoing, so I don’t know what the status of that investigation is.”
Asked if Hernandez-Santos legal status would be released assuming he was in fact operating a big rig without a CDL, Loftis would not elaborate.
“It just depends on the situation, what the investigation unveils, and so I don’t want to speculate,” he said.
As previously reported, Washington state was indirectly involved in an August accident on Florida’s Turnpike when illegal immigrant semi-truck driver Harjinder Singh made an unlawful U-turn, causing a horrific crash that killed three people.
On July 15th, 2023, Washington issued Singh a regular full-term commercial driver’s license.
“Washington state is currently working on compliance and is not conducting non-domicile CDL transactions at this time,” DOL spokesperson Nathan Olson emailed The Center Square back in October.
Olson wrote that on Sept. 29, FMCSA announced new rules for issuing non-domicile CDLs.
The new rules restrict eligibility to specific visa holders, require more rigorous verification using the SAVE system, and limit the term of the license. These interim final rules, effective immediately, require applicants to be present in person for renewals and no longer accept an Employment Authorization Document alone, with non-compliant states required to pause issuance immediately
“To comply with the new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) rules, all states that issue non-domicile CDLs are examining their existing procedures and processes in issuing those credentials,” Olson continued.
Also reported this week by The Center Square, nearly 3,000 training providers for commercial driver’s licenses have been removed from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Training Provider Registry.
Another 4,500 are on notice for potential noncompliance.
