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View Full Version : I am Legally Blind and NFPA 1582 Says I can't Drive....


lwillard
10-12-2007, 08:33 PM
Hello,
I have recently been removed from my driving privledges with my fire department. This is due to the NFPA 1582 Standard. FYI, I went throught the apparatus course which complied with NFPA 1002 Standards, as well as drive for almost two years. All of a sudden the FD Physician decides I am unsafe to drive. In the time I drove I had no complaints from anyone including officers,firefighters as well as the general public. Kentucky has a state medical waiver for monocular vision that would allow me to qualify for a CDL licence. Kentucky is an OSHA state not an NFPA state. The disturbing part of this whole ordeal is that I am being denied my rank, and in my opinion discriminated against given that several other members of my department have Category A medical conditions per NFPA. How am I being denied my rank? Doesn't the Americans with Disabilities Act apply to the fire service. Since I passed the drivers course and drove for two years, arn't I qualified? Why pick on me???

Stewart

KenNFD1219
10-12-2007, 08:50 PM
Are you a member of a union? They know the ins and outs of the contract and labor law and should make sure any action taken against you was fair and for just cause.

While no state is an NFPA state, state OSHA or an individual entity may adopt an NFPA standard and make it part of their regulations.

Interestingly, 34 states allow legally blind people to test for a drivers license.