# Hearing — Medical conditions that disqualify a commercial driver under 49 CFR 391.41

For Hearing, standard, as the regulation states it is (11) First perceives a forced whispered voice in the better ear at not less than 5 feet with or without the use of a hearing aid or, if tested by use of an audiometric device, does not have an average hearing loss in the better ear greater than 40 decibels at 500 Hz, 1,000 Hz, and 2,000 Hz with or without a hearing aid when the audiometric device is calibrated to American National Standard (formerly ASA Standard) Z24.5—1951;; paragraph is (b)(11); regulation section is 49 CFR 391.41, recorded from its source on 2026-08-31; source re-checked 2026-09-15.

- **Disqualifying condition or standard:** Hearing _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Standard, as the regulation states it:** (11) First perceives a forced whispered voice in the better ear at not less than 5 feet with or without the use of a hearing aid or, if tested by use of an audiometric device, does not have an average hearing loss in the better ear greater than 40 decibels at 500 Hz, 1,000 Hz, and 2,000 Hz with or without a hearing aid when the audiometric device is calibrated to American National Standard (formerly ASA Standard) Z24.5—1951; _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Paragraph:** (b)(11) _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Regulation section:** 49 CFR 391.41

## What the source says

> (11) First perceives a forced whispered voice in the better ear at not less than 5 feet with or without the use of a hearing aid or, if tested by use of an audiometric device, does not have an average hearing loss in the better ear greater than 40 decibels at 500 Hz, 1,000 Hz, and 2,000 Hz with or without a hearing aid when the audiometric device is calibrated to American National Standard (formerly ASA Standard) Z24.5—1951;

## Source

- https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/subtitle-B/chapter-III/subchapter-B/part-391/subpart-E/section-391.41

Last verified: 2026-09-15. Review by: 2027-08-31.
Part of [Medical conditions that disqualify a commercial driver under 49 CFR 391.41](https://referencesource.org/dot-cdl-medical-disqualifying-conditions/).