Lawmakers call for change after RMV revokes hundreds of commercial driver's licenses in Massachusetts
CARVER - Lawmakers are now deciding what needs to change after hundreds of Massachusetts bus and truck drivers had their commercial driver's licenses revoked due to violations from decades ago, leaving some of them out of work.
Truck drivers losing jobs
Michael McDonald gets emotional talking about the RMV taking away his commercial driver's license and his license to drive a car, all because of drunk driving cases he had in the 1980s. "It's devastating, I cry every night. The registry has no idea what they are doing to me and they don't care," said McDonald.
Since he got the notice from the RMV at the end of August, McDonald said he is no longer able to work at Ground Effects Landscaping in Carver where he has been employed for the last 17 years.
His boss Sean Bishop, who owns Ground Effects, said McDonald is a valued employee and named one of his new dump trucks for McDonald, having the decal "Captain Mike" put on the driver's door. Unable to drive, Bishop had to lay McDonald off last week.
"The word 'insane' comes to mind that the registry can just decide to, out of the blue, to go back, in Mike's case over 30 years, and look at offenses that he already dealt with through the legal system and now they're punishing him again," said Bishop.
"Lifetime look back" at violations
McDonald is not alone. Two weeks ago, the I-Team told you the RMV revoked the commercial driver's licenses of 482 drivers using what's called a "lifetime look back" at violations. In McDonald's case he went before the Board of Appeals in 2017 at the RMV, who agreed to give him a CDL. Since then, McDonald said he has not had any motor vehicle violations.
All of this is happening now because the RMV did not enforce provisions in Melanie's Law that went into effect in 2005. The law prohibits repeat drunk drivers and drivers who refuse to take a breathalyzer from holding a commercial driver's license. The RMV's failure came to light in 2019 when a truck driver whose license should have been suspended was involved in a New Hampshire crash that killed seven members of a Marine Corps motorcycle club.
"The old registry really screwed up the system," said State Rep. Jeffrey Turco. "And to now say, well, we're fixing our mistakes and then we're gonna just brutally punish these drivers by taking away their livelihood, I think, is a wrong-hearted approach. There's a real injustice in the way the mistakes of the government are being put forward on the people, we do need to fix that."
Call to amend Melanie's Law
Lawmakers agree that the only way to fix it is to amend Melanie's Law and limit the look back period. The federal government has a 10-year look back on a commercial driver's license history. State Sen. Peter Durant said deciding on how long the look back should be is part of a bigger conversation with colleagues in the legislature. Durant says the priority is keeping people safe on the road.
"We live in a society that says that people have the ability to rehabilitate themselves, 30 years ago doesn't mean that's the person you are today," said Durant.
For McDonald, he said he has completely turned his life around, and has worked hard.
"After so many years of working, now I'm on food stamps," said McDonald. "That kind of bums me out, I've always took care of myself, I did it all on my own. I worked hard and now just out of the blue, sorry it's gone. That's what basically they did."
McDonald has an RMV hearing in October. The lawmakers interested in proposing legislation to limit the look back time said they will be able to file a new bill when the session opens in January.
The Registrar declined the I-Team's request for an on-camera interview. The Registry, citing privacy, said that it could not discuss individual drivers records.