Disabled veterans in our area could lose their rides to the Togus VA Medical Center. New requirements are disqualifying some of the volunteers who’ve been ferrying patients to the center in Disabled American Veterans vans.

Fearing lawsuits and liability from potential accidents, the DAV now is requiring volunteer drivers to pass a physical exam.

As Sun Journal staff writer Daniel Hartill reported Nov. 11, on Veterans Day no less, many of the volunteers are aging veterans themselves and have medical problems that disqualify them. Since the new rules went into effect in September, six of the 63 drivers in Maine have failed the physicals, and it’s likely others will be eliminated.

The result: Some veterans will have a more difficult time making the trip to Togus.

We understand the DAV’s new requirements. The organization, which supports disabled veterans and advocates for their care, is concerned about passenger safety and is worried that it could find itself the target of litigation if a volunteer driver with a serious medical condition causes an accident. Commercial drivers must pass a physical before getting behind the wheel of a tractor-trailer, as do bus drivers.

It’s also true, however, that the DAV is solving a problem that hasn’t – at least so far – existed in Maine. Volunteer drivers have traveled more than 211,770 miles so far in 2004, providing rides to more than 3,100 veterans. In 2003, the vans carried vets more than 402,000 miles. In 18 years, Hartill reports, there have been no serious accidents and no injuries.

Medically unfit volunteers shouldn’t be driving vans loaded with vets. But there is a serious need for volunteers.

As we drive around, there are plenty of those yellow support-the-troops ribbons adorning cars and trucks. Surely we can find more support – either in dollars or time – for the troops who have already served.