Sununu Releases Review of NH DMV Ahead of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club Crash

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Manchester Ink Link photo

Motorcyclists who died in Randolph crash.

CONCORD – On Wednesday, Governor Chris Sununu issued the following statement ahead of the two year anniversary of the tragic crash in Randolph, New Hampshire, that killed seven members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club. The Governor also released an update to the comprehensive review the state undertook in 2019 in response to the crash. 
 
“As we reflect on the two year anniversary of the tragic crash in Randolph, our prayers go out to the victims, the survivors, and the friends and family of the Jarhead Motorcycle Club,” said Governor Chris Sununu. “Today’s update is the result of nonstop work over the last two years to improve our systems at the NH DMV. We have more work to do, but citizens can rest assured that we remain committed to making sure meaningful reforms are followed through on and the citizens are served.” 
 COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW

Following the horrific crash and the revelation that a backlog within the Massachusetts DMV system had failed to suspend the license of the truck driver at fault, Governor Chris Sununu immediately directed an in-depth review of the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) processes that support driver licensing to ensure that New Hampshire would never be in a similar situation.
 
The review provided short term and long term steps the DMV would undertake to improve their systems, among them: continuing to roll out E-Ticket and E-Crash systems, redesigning online ticket pay to improve plea by mail guilty plea processing, implementing online not guilty pleas and implementing the State to State Verification System. A copy of the 2019 review can be found here. The long-term steps recommended can be found on page 5 of the review. 
 STEPS TAKEN

Over the last two years, the DMV has worked tirelessly to implement the recommended steps from the 2019 review. This past weekend, New Hampshire became the 34th state to implement State to State Verification Service, which required legislative changes to NH state law. 
 
There have been many other system and process improvements at the DMV, including:

  • Staff have been cross-trained to handle all aspects of motor vehicle records process
  • Processing times have remained current and without backlog within in all critical areas
  • Paper notifications have been consistently generated and mailed to other states
  • Electronic queues have been reviewed and optimized to increase processing efficiencies
  • Electronic process for receipt of NH court default notifications has been implemented
  • Electronic Exchange of Records with MA — New Hampshire and Massachusetts now have an electronic file exchange process for both inbound and outbound notifications related to convictions and withdrawals
  • Commercial Driver Disqualification – New Hampshire has implemented system changes that allow the DMV to initiate immediate disqualification of commercial drivers and/or commercial motor carriers
  • Online Ticket Payment — New Hampshire has redesigned the online self-service site for customers to pay for motor vehicle tickets without having to visit a DMV office, which has increased accuracy of data and matching with electronic tickets for improved completion rates
  • Online Not Guilty Pleas — New Hampshire now has an online self-service site for customers to plead not guilty to motor vehicle violations without having to visit a DMV office, which has streamlined the delivery of not guilty pleas to the courts

Implementation of the State to State Verification System — After necessary legislative authorization was given, New Hampshire on boarded just this past weekend the system designed to facilitate the exchange of convictions with other states.
ONGOING PROGRESS
There are other important steps the state is currently rolling out, including:

  • Online Motor Vehicle Record Requests — the state is introducing a new online self-service site for customers requesting a copy of their motor vehicle records
  • E-Crash and E-Ticket Roll Out — the state is continuing to roll out E-Crash and E-Ticket systems to local police departments. Currently, 83 police departments participate in E-Crash and 94 police departments participate in E-Ticket, an increase from 35 and 30 in August 2019. 
    • As a result of this continued roll-out, during calendar year 2020, 72% of all tickets received by the NHDMV were electronic. For comparison purposes, 44% of all tickets received during calendar year 2018 were electronic. During calendar year 2020, 46% of all accident reports received by the NHDMV were electronic. For comparison purposes, 21% of all accident reports received during calendar year 2018 were electronic.

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