Drivers with Serious Violations Allowed on Mass. Roads

Delays in the processing of criminal traffic violations have allowed a large number of serious violators to remain on the road in Massachusetts after their licenses should have been suspended or revoked.

According to State Auditor Joe DeNucci, who audited the Registry of Motor Vehicles, about 7,500 to 9,000 motorists with criminal citation dispositions reported during 2005 and 2006 were able to keep their licenses for an average two to four additional years.

The report blames administrative delays in processing the citations or, in some cases, delays by the courts in submitting the dispositions to the RMV.

Once received from the courts, adjudications of violations are forwarded by the RMV to the Merit Rating Board for entry into the RMV’s computerized database. However, DeNucci’s audit found that there are no procedures in place at the registry or the courts to determine whether all adjudications are received by the RMV in a timely manner.

DeNucci said the RMV should more closely monitor the timeliness of court dispositions to ensure that they are entered promptly in its automated system.

“The registry is the primary agency responsible for the administration and enforcement of our motor vehicle laws, so it has a responsibility to ensure that the public is protected by suspending or revoking the licenses of unsafe drivers as soon as possible following a court disposition,” said DeNucci.

In response, the RMV expressed frustration with delays in getting the information from the courts and said it agreed with DeNucci’s findings.

RMV officials said they would work with the court system on improvements.

Another section of DeNucci’s audit confirmed that communities have lost out on millions of dollars in auto excise revenues because of inaccurate tax billings to owners of luxury vehicles over the course of several years. The RMV assigned well below-market valuations for thousands of vehicles such as Ferraris, Maseratis, Bentleys, Lamborghinis, Astin Martins and some BMWs, the audit found.

This problem occurred when the RMV, due to staffing shortages, stopped performing manual evaluations of luxury vehicles and established a default value of $17,000 for them. Thus, a new Maserati costing $325,000 would be assigned a valuation of just $17,000, and the excise tax bill would be $382 instead of the $7,312 from a correct valuation.

Rachel Kaprielian, a former state representative, became new RMV registrar in May.

Topics Personal Auto Massachusetts