CONCORD, NH — The head of the Massachusetts RMV, Erin Deveney has resigned due to the case of Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, the West Springfield man accused in a crash that killed seven bikers in New Hampshire last week.
Prior to the crash, Connecticut prosecutors said Zhukovskyy was arrested May 11 in a Walmart parking lot in East Windsor Walmart after failing a sobriety test. Zhukovskyy’s lawyer in that case, John O’Brien, said he denies being intoxicated and will fight the charge.
Massachusetts Department of Transportation Secretary and CEO Stephanie Pollack issued the following statement regarding the driving history and license status of Volodymyr Zhukovskyy.
You can read the full statement below:
“The loss of life in any motor vehicle crash is a terrible tragedy and the massive toll this crash is taking on the families of the seven individuals who lost their lives, many of whom served this country, is impossible to comprehend. The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles has a responsibility to enforce the laws governing safe operation of vehicles and carries out its mission to the best of its abilities. But in this case, the RMV had not acted on information provided by the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles about a May 11 incident that should have triggered termination of this individual’s commercial driver’s license. Effective immediately, former MassDOT Chief Operating Officer Jamey Tesler will take over as Acting Registrar of the RMV as I have accepted Registrar Erin Deveney’s resignation. Jamey will lead an in depth review of the Registry’s state-to-state data sharing processes to ensure the RMV acts as quickly as possible on any information shared by other states.”
An initial review of the driving record of Volodymyr Zhukovskyy has determined the following information:
- Zhukovskyy received a Massachusetts personal driving license April 25, 2013. He received a Class A license (CDL) on August 3, 2018. Zhukovskyy’s driving history did not have the number and type of violations that would have disqualified him under state and federal law from obtaining a CDL in August 2018.
- The driving record of Zhukovskyy includes a violation on June 26, 2013 for OUI-Liquor or .08% and a disposition for that violation on June 16, 2013. He was under the age of 21 at the time of this violation and served suspensions and attended education classes for this violation including a youth alcohol program.
- On May 11, 2019, Zhukovskyy received violations for alleged OUI and refusing a chemical test in East Windsor, Connecticut.
- The Registry of Motor Vehicles follows a series of state and federal guidelines regarding license suspensions or revocations for various types of licenses; when an incident occurs out of state, that state provides information to the RMV to trigger these guidelines. The refusal of a chemical test results in the automatic termination of the CDL. The OUI would automatically trigger a seven-day notification process for suspension of his non-commercial license in accordance with Massachusetts law.
- To the RMV’s knowledge, Connecticut failed to provide sufficient information through the federal CDL system (CDLIS) upon his May 11th OUI offense and refusal of a chemical test for the violations to automatically apply to his MA driving record. CDLIS notification would have resulted in an immediate termination of his CDL.
- On May 29, the Connecticut DMV sent a communication to the RMV through the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators messaging system, the state-to-state messaging system for registries, regarding Zhukovskyy’s May 11th OUI. The online communication sent by Connecticut on May 29 did not contain sufficient information to automatically input Zhukovskyy’s OUI into his MA driving record and therefore did not automatically trigger the 7-day notification process for his non-commercial license suspension in accordance with Massachusetts law.
- While the RMV system could not automatically process the communication, it generated a notification requiring manual review. This review had not been performed by RMV personnel as of June 23, which is why the May 11 chemical test refusal does not appear on Zhukovskyy’s driving record and why his license had not been suspended in MA.
