RMV makes u-turn into scandal mode

When a company’s missteps embroil it in scandal, conventional practice calls for a thorough investigation, terminations where necessary, and a plan in place to make sure such a breach of customer trust never happens again.

What it shouldn’t do is go back for seconds.

But then, not everyone is the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles.

Fairly fresh on the heels of the Registry’s failure to process out-of-state driving violations debacle in 2019, which came to light after Bay State trucker Volodymyr Zhukovskyy allegedly killed seven motorcyclists in New Hampshire after crashing. The RMV failed to suspend his license due to “a defect” in the registry’s computer system, a lawsuit alleges.

An investigation found tens of thousands of notices from other states about driving violations in boxes in a Quincy storage room.

This would have been a good time for everyone else at the Registry to make sure their ties were on straight and socks pulled up.

And yet, some RMV workers allegedly gave out licenses without making drivers take a road test.

“Upon discovering suspicious activity regarding the issuance of road tests in 2020, the Registry of Motor Vehicles launched an investigation and referred the issue to law enforcement. The RMV has determined 2,100 drivers were granted licenses without taking a road test,” MassDOT spokeswoman Jacquelyn Goddard said Tuesday night. She added the RMV has “terminated four employees involved in this matter and will continue to work with law enforcement on their ongoing investigation.” The names of the employees were not divulged, nor their positions or pay.

Letters have been sent to those 2,100 drivers, who have to take a road test within 10 days or risk losing their license.

For those who got a license without having to master a three-point turn or parallel park, if everyone else has to, so do you.

But did 2,100 people really skip out?

One parent told the Herald his teen did take the test. Is the RMV calling back everyone with appointments on the days those particular workers were scheduled to work? Or is the mass callback another glitch?

The 2019 out-of-state violations scandal added some $21.8 million to the payroll spending at the state’s transportation department.

The RMV hired 15 new full-time employees — including a deputy registrar of safety and a chief compliance officer, Department of Transportation spokeswoman Goddard said at the time.

The backlog of RMV records also triggered $700,000 in overtime spending.

And taxpayers picked up the bill.

Will those who already took a road test have to take it again, if they received a letter? And will they have to pay the $35 fee again?

This mess is not over. But this mess should not have happened. Nor should the out-ofstate violations morass.

“Scandal-plagued” is not a good motto for any institution, particularly one that serves the public.

But in this election year, the RMV certainly makes for an excellent focus in the state’s gubernatorial campaigns.

Voters will be affected by, and no doubt expect speeches about taxes, climate change, transformative policies, equity, good jobs and the like — but nearly everyone encounters the RMV at some point.

Politicians talk a lot about transparency and accountability. If there’s an agency that could use a dose of both, it’s the RMV.