Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon signed a new state law allowing all police officers in Wyoming to stop commercial truck drivers who are not proficient in the English language and may endanger public safety.The bill is called House Bill 32 and was approved by the state Legislature and signed by Gordon earlier this week.Under the new law, any state law enforcement officer or deputy can stop a truck driver if the driver cannot prove he or she meets federal English proficiency standards. Before this change, only federally certified Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers had the authority to enforce these standards.The federal standard requires that commercial drivers be able to speak and understand English well enough to speak with the public, answer official questions, and read road signs.
If a driver does not meet these requirements, they can now be cited by local officers as well as state troopers.The law also includes penalties for drivers who fail to prove their proficiency in the English language. A first violation can result in a $1,000 fine. If a driver continues to operate a commercial vehicle in the state before proving their English proficiency, they will face another $1,000 fine and may be charged with a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail.
The law aims to improve safety on Wyoming’s roads by ensuring that commercial drivers are able to communicate and understand important information while driving. The U.S. Department of Transportation has reinstated federal English language proficiency requirements after they were paused by previous administrations.The new law comes into effect immediately after several accidents and accidents in which immigrant drivers were unable to speak or read English properly.In 2025, Wyoming commercial vehicle inspections found that 676 out of 16,676 truck drivers could not demonstrate basic English proficiency during interviews, according to State Patrol data. Officers had to cite these drivers for failing to demonstrate their ability to read or communicate in English during roadside checks. Furthermore, a truck crash in Florida in August 2025, which killed three people, brought national attention to English proficiency rules. Federal investigators said the truck driver failed an English test and was unable to answer basic questions or correctly identify highway signs after the crash.
