Mass Registrar Bounced over Biker Deaths [OPINION]

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has had the good sense to fire the Registrar of Motor Vehicles Erin Deveney in the wake of the horrific crash in New Hampshire on Friday that killed seven bikers, including a couple from Lakeville.

"The loss of life in any motor vehicle crash is a terrible tragedy and the massive toll this crash is taking on the families of the seven individuals who lost their lives, many of whom served this country, is impossible to comprehend," Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack said in a statement after Deveney submitted her resignation yesterday.

Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, a 23-year-old Ukranian national with permanent residence status in the U.S., pleaded not guilty Tuesday to seven counts of negligent homicide. Zhukovskyy has quite a past, including a drunk driving arrest in Connecticut in May that should have resulted in the suspension of his commercial driver's license here in Massachusetts. But Deveney failed to act on information submitted to her by Connecticut authorities.

Zhukovskyy did lose his license in 2013 for 210 days and he was placed on probation following a drunken driving charge in Westfield, Massachusetts. Police say he also crashed a tractor-trailer in suburban Houston earlier this month.

Zhukovskyy is in the country legally on a green card. The green card should have been revoked at the first sign of trouble, but it wasn't. Deveney, who was earning $143,000 a year, failed to do her job as Registrar. As a result, seven people are dead.

Deveney gets to simply quit her job and walk away. She won't face charges of any kind in connection to all of this. Too bad.

Barry Richard is the host of The Barry Richard Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. Contact him at barry@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @BarryJRichard58. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.