Over 1,100 Commercial Licenses Revoked as a Result of Losing 7 Bikers in NH Crash
According to USA Today, the driver of the commercial truck who struck members of the Jarheads MC motor cycle club, killing seven of them, never should have been on the road.
Volodymyr Zhukovsky, a 23-year-old truck driver, had a series of arrests in Connecticut that were never processed in Massachusetts. Zhukovsky was arrested in Connecticut on a drunk driving charge in May, which should have resulted in an immediate termination of his commercial trucking license.
He had multiple drug and traffic related arrests in six states before crossing a double yellow line and killing seven people on June 21st in Randolph, New Hampshire.
Thousands of other violations were found in the 58 bins, all had been unacknowledged, the article states.
Over the last several weeks, much has changed in an effort to protect travelers from drivers with violations, according to USA Today:
- The RMV's registrar, Erin Deveny, resigned after the crash and the discovery that the office had stopped processing violations in March of 2018. Files from 2011 through 2017 have also been pulled for review.
- Over 1,106 new suspensions were processed, including alcohol-related violations. Some drivers had multiple suspensions.
- Legislation is being drafted to tighten up requirements to get and keep a commercial driving license.
- An outside auditing firm has been hired by the state to do an external audit of the RMV.
- Massachusetts is comparing their 5.2 million driver's license records against the National Driver Registry to catch infractions.
We will never get those seven special people back, but hopefully their loss has triggered true change and will keep dangerous drivers off the roads.