Cuba-born Trucker's Ticket Dismissed

A Cuban-born trucker who was issued a traffic ticket for being "unable to speak English" has won his fight to have it dismissed in New York.

Rogelio Campos was driving a dump truck filled with broken cement when he was stopped July 16 and cited for not displaying the company name on his truck, not producing a card proving he was fit to drive the vehicle and being unable to speak English.

Yonkers City Court Judge Richard Liebowitz ruled Tuesday that because Campos was not engaged in interstate commerce, the federal language requirement for commercial haulers did not apply. The other two citations are still pending.

Federal law requires that drivers be able to converse with the public, understand English traffic signs, respond to official questions and fill out reports and records.

Campos, who does speak some English, took his commercial driver license test in Spanish.

he judge did not address Campos’ claim that the law was unconstitutional because it discriminated against non-English speakers.

"Whether it was a technicality or not, I accept it as a victory," said Rep. Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.). Serrano, who had backed the claim of unconstitutionality, said he would continue working to change the statute.