A key vacancy has been filled, on an interim basis, at the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles after an official was fired in the wake of the deadly motorcycle crash that killed seven people in June.
The state's Department of Transportation announced Thursday that Paolo Franzese will move within the department to be interim director of the Merit Rating Board. The board keeps traffic law violations, certain insurance claim records and out-of-state driving records.
The prior director, Thomas Bowes, was let go Tuesday, after the board's record-keeping was called into question by a deadly June 21 crash in Randolph, New Hampshire that left seven members of a New England motorcycle club dead.
The driver of the truck should have been suspended from driving but state officials failed to act on two notifications they received from Connecticut about him being arrested in May for allegedly driving under the influence.
"The tragedy that occurred on June 21 should never have happened. As the director of the Merit Rating Board, I take full responsibility for the role my department played in this event," Bowes said at the meeting Tuesday.
Franzese has been manager of market conduct for the Department of Transportation's Division of Insurance, according to a department statement announcing his appointment.
Committee member asks Dwyer if the RMV had taken her recommendations sooner - would they have suspended the license of Volodymyr Zhukovskyy before the fatal NH Crash? “It’s possible,” she says. pic.twitter.com/EHRlZTa9P4
— Abbey Niezgoda NBC10 Boston (@AbbeyNBCBoston) July 30, 2019
The department will continue to search for a permanent director of the Merit Rating Board.
