What's New
Audit
Exposes Registry Failures
Boston Herald Editorial
July 11, 2008
If
a driver fails to pay a speeding ticket to, say, the city of Cambridge,
the Registry of Motor Vehicles knows about it almost instantly. No license
renewal until Cambridge gets its due.
You
would think the same logic would apply when a repeat drunk driver, or a
driver convicted of vehicular homicide, has his license revoked. Well, the
logic may apply but the execution? Not so much.
A
state audit revealed this week that reporting lapses have allowed drivers
whose licenses have been suspended or revoked by the courts to remain on
the roads - sometimes for years.
State
Auditor Joseph DeNucci also found that super-luxury car owners have
avoided paying excise taxes because, basically, no one at the RMV knew how
to assess the value of a Maserati.
These
are precisely the kinds of lazy and frankly, dangerous bureaucratic lapses
that cause taxpayers to lose whatever faith in government they might have
left.
The
license issue is apparently a joint problem of the courts and the RMV.
Registry officials often couldn’t process charges against convicted
drunk drivers because they didn’t receive them from the courts.
Meanwhile when the Registry does receive info on convictions, there is no
system to guarantee it is entered properly.
(And
while the excise tax issue is hardly life-threatening, it is patently
unfair.)
Registrar
Rachel Kaprielian, who took over in March, said plans are already in the
works to correct the problems identified in the audit. With lives at
stake, she doesn’t have a moment to waste.