CDL Carnage Continues
Just when you think a ghastly news story can’t get any worse, it does.
On Friday morning, at 2:35, a charter bus on I-95 south in Stafford county failed to slowdown for a work zone and plowed into an SUV. That SUV rammed an Acura sedan, carrying a family of four. Four other cars were also hit by the bus, before the larger vehicle flipped over, injuring many of the passengers.
The entire Doncev family was killed in the crash. This family of four were on their way from Massachusetts to a wedding with their Acura trunk full of homemade desserts. Their car burst into flames and the parents, the 13-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son were incinerated.
The driver of the SUV, a 25-year-old woman, was also killed.
Forty four people were injured, including the driver of the bus, who is facing so many criminal charges that if convicted, will likely spend the rest of his life in prison.
About that driver.
We’re told that the man driving the bus from New York City to Charlotte was 48-year-old Jing S. Dong, a Chinese native who is a naturalized American living on Staten Island.
Here’s the “worse” part of the story. According to WJLA, Dong is due in a Maryland courtroom TODAY on speeding charges. He was recently stopped doing 72 in a 50 zone.
There are so many questions about this tragedy.
First, why was Dong allowed to continue driving a commercial vehicle while reckless driving charges were pending?
Oh, there’s more.
Dong reportedly doesn’t speak or understand English. Yet he obtained a commercial driver’s license from New York in 2024. New York, California and several other states are notorious for passing out CDLs to immigrants with no grasp of the language or of traffic rules.
"Unacceptable. This is exactly why we are holding states accountable, enforcing the rules of the road, and cracking down on drivers who can’t speak English," Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy wrote on X. "If you can’t be properly trained, read our road signs, or communicate with law enforcement, you have no business driving a bus."
Amen.
The Trump administration has reportedly subpoenaed New York for Dong’s CDL records. The Hochul administration is so far not cooperating with investigators.
There are other, serious questions raised about this tragic case. How is it possible for a Chinese man with no proficiency in English to become an American citizen? I checked the government website and it states clearly that a rudimentary grasp of English is required to obtain citizenship. Yes, there are exceptions, mostly for older immigrants. Or people with significant impairments. Dong, at 48, is too young to get a pass on the language tests. Then again, the tests appear to be a joke. Applicants need only sputter out a sentence in English and muddle their way through extremely small passages of written English.
In addition to a thorough investigation about how Dong got a CDL, there needs to be a search of his citizenship records to see if he bypassed the language requirement. If indeed, he actually is a citizen.
We don’t need naturalized Americans who can’t speak or read English. And we definitely don’t want any drivers on the road with little or no comprehension of English.
This is just the latest - and most deadly case - in a rash of accidents caused by foreigners with CDLs. According to the federal Department of Transportation and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, in 2025 there were 17 separate fatal accidents caused by “non-domiciled’ drivers, who killed 30 people.
Thirty people dead.
Duffy announced that he is withholding $73 million from New York over its lax CDL program.
Do more, Mr. Secretary. Close it all down.
