By Brian Lee
As Published by the Worcester Telegram & Gazette
A local legislator says he is disappointed in the state Department of Transportation’s response to a backlog of hundreds of students in the region awaiting Saturday road tests for their driver’s licenses, and wants an audit committee to review the matter.
To remedy the statewide problem, the DOT said it would add four new road test examiners.
State Sen. Michael O. Moore, D-Millbury, was miffed that none of the four examiners will be dedicated to Central Massachusetts.
Last month, 15 legislators co-signed a letter by Mr. Moore asking the state to remedy the backlog in Central Massachusetts.
Earlier this month, Registry of Motor Vehicles Registrar Erin C. Deveney wrote to Mr. Moore, thanking him for the opportunity to clarify the misconception that the RMV cancels road tests for driving school customers taking tests on weekends.
Ms. Deveney’s letter to Mr. Moore outlined “a multidisciplinary approach” to improving service by increasing examiner positions from 41 to 45.5 positions.
An examiner was hired by the RMV for the Springfield office, and the state interviewed for a position in Brockton and two in Plymouth. A job in Fall River will be posted in advance of an upcoming retirement, the state said.
Mr. Moore said, “I don’t know how the concerns of myself and the other legislators who signed onto the letter are going to be met. Are they going to make these students go to all these other locations? There’s a big void.”
Mr. Moore said he has mostly dealt with the Central Massachusetts Safety Council, a driving school in West Boylston, which reported a backlog of 504 students who are ready to be tested now, but can’t test until November because of the backlog. The school has coined the phrase “road test roadblock.”
Mr. Moore said: “There definitely seems to be a miscommunication between the DOT and the driving schools. In talking to the driving schools, they’re following the same procedure they followed for years, and now the Registrar or DOT is coming back saying, these aren’t appointments that they’re canceling.”
Mr. Moore said he is planning another letter to area legislators asking them to sign on to a request to have the legislative post audit committee investigate the matter.
“I definitely think there’s going to be some sort of intervention into the operation of that program,” Mr. Moore said.
The senator said he wants examiner staff added in Central Massachusetts, or assign state troopers to test students on Saturdays. State troopers, working on paid details, served as road test examiners for 15 years until 2007.
Source: http://www.telegram.com/news/20170919/state-lawmaker-dismayed-by-states-remedy-to-backlog