Remember the horrifying crash in 2019 that resulted in the deaths of seven members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club in New Hampshire?
If you were on the moto Internet at that time, of course you do.
And you might also remember that there were several issues that arose as a direct result of the severity of this crash and its consequences. One was that you had several state departments of motor vehicles that didn't communicate with each other, meaning that the truck driver tried for these deaths, Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, actually had a history of DUI, traffic, and drug violations across six states.
But because those DMVs didn't communicate, each one was only aware of any infractions that happened within that state. Not in the other states. So they couldn't form a holistic picture of this professional truck driver's driving record, which seems kind of crucial if your entire job description means you're regularly crossing state lines.
Unsurprisingly, in the wake of this crash, some of the DMVs involved started formulating plans to modernize and revamp their systems.
And then there's Massachusetts, which has reportedly been notifying school bus and truck drivers that their commercial driver's licenses (CDLs) are about to be revoked for violations that may, in some cases, have been recorded erroneously decades ago. But which are, nevertheless, still coming back to haunt them.
Boston CBS affiliate WBZ tells the story of one such driver, Walter McCloskey, who's been driving trucks for 30 years. He recently got a notice that his license was revoked for two cases dating back to 1995. One was dismissed in court, and in the other, he was found not guilty.
And to make matters worse, nearly 500 similar notices went out to both bus and truck drivers the week before school was scheduled to start in the state. (I swear I'm not making this up.)
In the aftermath of the Zhukovskyy case, it's clear that states need better systems in place to communicate about commercial truck drivers. It's also clear that some review needs to be done, but when mistakes like these are big enough to literally change someone's life with zero notice, they need to be made with care.
WBZ reports that the state has suspended the revocation of these licenses, following massive outcry from drivers who feel they've been wrongfully targeted. So in a sense, it might have turned out better than expected simply because there are so many drivers affected.
But that's exactly why more care should have been taken in identifying seriously problematic licenses and license-holders. It seems more like a draconian, cover-your-ass move than a thoughtful, nuanced approach to improving the system so it works better for everyone. The kind of choice that gets made when you're scrambling to cover your butt instead of trying to do what's genuinely best for your community.
