The recent deadly motorcycle crash in New Hampshire has brought light to the issue of whether the defendants CDL license should have been active at the time of the incident. In 2013 the defendant, Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, received an immediate threat license suspension after being arrested and charged with OUI. He was placed on probation for one year and had his license suspended in 2014 for a total of 210 days. Last month the defendant was arrested in Connecticut on a second offense OUI after failing a field sobriety test and was also involved in an 18-wheeler roll-over crash as recent as last week.

Zhukovskyy’s license remained inactive until May 2017, following his completion of a “youth alcohol program suspension”. Zhukovskyy’s second OUI arrest last month should have been sufficient to suspend his CDL license. However, the issue remains whether or not the Registry of Motor Vehicles was aware of the arrest or if the information slipped through a loophole. Many Massachusetts residents are becoming increasingly concerned that there may be other people like Zhukovskyy that are on the roads but should not be. When Zhukovskyy was arrested and brought to the police station following his OUI second arrest, he refused a breathalyzer test which should have resulted in the automatic termination of his CDL license.

Image from the scene of the accident in Randolph, New Hampshire.