MassDOT officials apologize to families of NH motorcycle crash victims

BOSTON — Transportation officials are apologizing for mistakes that may have led to seven deaths caused by a driver whose license should have been suspended.

Massachusetts Department of Transportation leaders say there is an audit taking place now with an independent accounting firm to take a closer look at the problems that led to these mistakes.

Last month, 23-year-old Volodymyr Zhukovskyy was charged with vehicular homicide in the deaths of seven motorcyclists he is accused of hitting with a commercial truck.

His commercial license was not suspended by the Registry of Motor Vehicle despite being alerted twice by officials in Connecticut of drunken driving charges.

Officials also expressed condolences to the families of the seven bikers killed in New Hampshire.

"I, personally, and everyone involved in this feels awful about what happened," MassDOT CEO Stephanie Pollack said. [We are] committed to making sure that never happens again and committed to making sure that everyone who works for the Registry of Motor Vehicles understands that we are in the safety business. We are in the secure credential business. And, of course, we are in the customer service business. There is no reason why we cannot do all three things equally well.”

Following the deadly crash last month, the RMV reports it has issued more than 2,000 license suspensions to over 1,600 drivers.

The preliminary results of the audit are due in September.

Cox Media Group