Legislation to do away with deferred adjudication in traffic cases involving commercial drivers will soon be debated on the Texas House floor.

If signed into law, HB1034 would require that a commercial driver convicted of a traffic offense, even if it involved his personal vehicle, would not be eligible to keep his driving record clean by taking and completing a driver safety course.

The proposal, which would make Texas law compliant with federal motor carrier safety regulations, could affect the employment opportunities and insurance availability for more than 772,000 CDL holders, The Dallas Morning News reported.

The bill was inspired by the bus crash last summer near Terrell, TX, that killed the driver, Ernest Carter, and four teen-age church members from Garland, TX.

According to the newspaper, federal investigators have blamed the fatal crash on fatigue and illegal drug use by Carter, a 51-year-old Dallas man with a long history of convictions for traffic offenses, theft and drunken driving in Texas and California.

While deferred adjudication is typically reserved for first-time offenders, Carter had received it at least three times in Dallas alone, the newspaper reported. He had also been allowed to attend driver safety schools in Dallas, Coppell and McLennan County.

If the bill is approved in the House, it must still pass the Senate before heading to the governor.