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U.S. NEWS Thursday 29 augusT 2019
New Hampshire governor promises reforms after deadly crash

By MICHAEL CASEY license in Massachusetts
Associated Press should've been suspended
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — because of a drunken driv-
New Hampshire plans to ing arrest.
suspend the licenses of The crash led to the firing of
nearly 4,000 drivers in the the Massachusetts Registry
latest fallout following a of Motor Vehicles direc-
June crash that killed seven tor after it was found the
motorcyclists , Gov. Chris agency stored 45,000 con-
Sununu said Wednesday. victions and suspensions
The Republican governor levied on out-of-state driv-
said the review of the Di- ers since March 2018, rath-
vision of Motor Vehicles er than acting on them.
sparked by the deadly A preliminary audit found
crash that was just released that a motor vehicles em-
led authorities to catch ployee missed an opportu-
up on notifications it had nity to revoke Zhukovskyy's
that dated back to July license because he did not
2016. Sununu said the de- know how to add convic-
partment is now caught tions to driving records.
up and more than 37,000 After being notified of
DMV infractions have been Zhukovskyy's May drunken
looked at. driving arrest in Connecti- In this July 6, 2019 file photo, motorcyclists participate in a ride to remember seven bikers killed
Authorities blamed the cut, the employee briefly in a June collision with a pickup truck at the site in Randolph, N.H.
backlog on the lack of au- reviewed the notification Associated Press
tomation, which included from Connecticut but did
nearly 14,000 notifications not change Zhukovskyy's those in states which par- ing to encourage munici- notifications with the state.
that should have been record. ticipate in the REAL ID pro- palities in New Hampshire Currently, most mail paper
sent to other states as well As part of an ongoing re- gram. The state is also hop- to automate the sharing of notifications to the DMV.q
as over 13,000 notifications view of the motor vehicles
of infractions received by department, the registry
New Hampshire from other this month suspended the
states. licenses of another 869 driv-
A similar process led Mas- ers . The suspensions were in
sachusetts to uncover a far addition to the more than
larger backlog . 1,600 people in Massachu-
"We left no stone unturned. setts who had already had
We accounted for every their licenses suspended.
file and every notification," Sununu said that he only
Sununu said of the review. learned of the backlog
"It's our job as public offi- after the crash and could
cials to go through these not say when the backlog
reviews to ensure that the would have been cleared
systems we have in place if not for the deadly colli-
across the state truly work sion.
for the people that we rep- Sununu, Department of
resent." Safety Commissioner Bob
As a result, Sununu said Quinn, and DMV Director
more than 3,000 driv- Elizabeth Bielecki, speak-
ers from New Hampshire ing at a press conference,
and elsewhere will have said there are measures
their licenses suspended. the state plans to take to
None of the suspensions ensure notices are han-
resulted in fatalities in New dled promptly in the future.
Hampshire and were not Among them are continu-
directly related to the ing to build out an auto-
deadly motorcycle crash mated processing system
in Randolph."What we in the works for several
have learned through the years, completing the de-
process allows us to both velopment of an electronic
challenge and assist other interface with the judicial
states as they hopefully un- branch and working to
dergo the same exercise," automate filings from insur-
Sununu said. ance companies. Sununu
A pickup truck collided also has ordered the DMV
with motorcyclists on June to produce a monthly sta-
21. The driver, 23-year-old tus report on notifications.
Volodymyr Zhukovskyy , of Further out, Sununu is rec-
West Springfield, Massa- ommending legislative
chusetts, pleaded not guilty changes that would allow
to negligent homicide. the DMV to share notifica-
Officials say Zhukovskyy's tions for all drivers, not just