The Registry of Motor Vehicles announced on Thursday that it will open an express office in Attleboro to replace a full-service branch which was closed as a cost saving measure.

The express branch will open in one to two months and it will be located in the old post office building next to the Attleboro City Hall on Park Street. This RMV express office will serve customers in the area with no ongoing lease cost being incurred by the state.

This is an example of cooperation between state and local government for the benefits of the citizens. The Town will benefit because the RMV office will attract potential customers for merchants in the downtown area, which the town is trying to revitalize.

The Massachusetts Registry of Motor vehicles will open a new full service branch on Middlesex Street in Downtown Lowell, in February of 2010.

The Registry's Branch 450 Chelmsford St., which served approximately 400 RMV customers each day, was slated to close due to budget cuts. The Chelmsford Street location costs the Registry $172,596 per year. However, the Registry will be able to open new RMV Branch next year by obtaining low rent space from the City at the Middlesex Street location.

The new Full Service RMV Location will offer most RMV services, including license and registration renewals, plate transfers, out of state license conversions, learners' permits, and driver license road tests. It is unknown whether the new location will be staffed by Registry of Motor Vehicles Hearings Officers, so that hardship license and other Registry Hearings could be held there.

The Mass. RMV has delayed its plans to close the Beverly, Massachusetts Registry Branch until November 1st. Massachusetts Registry officials decided to allow the branch to remain open, so that the Registry can find a suitable location for an RMV Express office in the North Shore area.

The Registry is trying to make the closing of the current Beverly Branch and the opening of the new express location as seamless as possible.

Express locations can be used for registration and license renewals. Other transactions such as paying traffic tickets, registering vehicles, and getting a Massachusetts Driver's License must be completed at full service branches. License Suspension related transactions can only be done at Registry branches where there are RMV hearings officers on staff and breathalzer refusal as well as ignition intelrock violation hearings are only held in Boston.

In 2012, the Mass. RMV is scheduled to open up a new Branch in the Beverly Parking Garage, once it's built.

People complain about the Registry's decision to move branches from locations where it was paying rent to state owned buildings, where the Registry can operate rent-free. However, the complainers fail to realize that the Registry had its budget cut substantially and the money had to come from somewhere.

Tired of waiting in long lines at the Registry? You can now get Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles wait time information on your iPhone, for free. By using a new iPhone App., you can plan your trip to the Mass. RMV to minimize your time in line. Other apps. allow you to find the nearest MBTA Station and view schedules.  These new applications are a prime example of using technology to make life easier. The RMV app. allows you to select a particular Mass. Registry Branch and it will display wait times for both license and registration-related RMV transactions.  You can download the app. from the App. Store on your iPhone. This app. is very useful for routine Registry transactions. However, it will not tell you how long you have to wait to see a Registry Hearings Officer. At the RMV in Boston, for example, the Driver Control Unit (DCU) has a separate waiting area which is not monitored by the current system. The RMV DCU handles license suspensions, hardship license hearings, and chemical test refusal hearings.

If enacted, Massachusetts House Bill 4027 will allow the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles to establish maximum noise levels for automobiles. This noise level would be tested as part of the annual automobile inspection process. if a vehicle is found to be too noisy, it would be rejected and not receive an inspection sticker. Also, Mass. House Bill 4028 would create a civil motor vehicle infraction of "obstructing a crosswalk," by failing to alllow sufficient space for pedestrians to use the crosswalk. The new Massachusetts Traffic Violation would be pubished by a fine of $100.00. Crosswalks routinely become obstructed when drivers enter congegsted intersections on a green traffic light.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court will soon rule on the constitutionality of the law which allows district court judges, instead of the Mass. RMV, to decide if a license which was suspended because of a breathalyzer refusal should be reinstated if the defendant is found not guilty.

Dennis Bauer, who was found not guilty of DUI 4th offense, is challenging Ayer District Court Judge David W. Cunis’ decision that his license should not be returned because returning Bauer’s license would endanger public safety. In his appeal, Bauer is claiming that the law which allows judges instead of the Mass. RMV to decide on license reinstatements in breathalyzer refusal cases violates the separation of powers between the executive and judicial branches of Massachusetts government.

Bauer’s license was revoked for lifetime under the Massachusetts breathalyzer refusal law, which provides for lifetime license revocations for those who have three or more previous convictions and refuse the breathalyzer. The license suspension is not automatically vacated, even if the DUI offender is found not guilty at trial. Instead, a hearing is held before the district court, where there is a presumption that the license should be restored. The prosecution can overcome this presumption by demonstrating that restoring the license would jeopardize public safety.

Bauer’s appeal challenges this hearing process on the grounds that only Registry and not the courts have the constitutional authority to decide, in the first instance, matters related to license suspensions.

More information will be posted regarding this breathalyzer refusal suspension case as it develops.

A Quincy man sustained serious injuries when he was struck while standing outside of his broken down motor vehicle on Friday in on Route 3 in Norwell. The striking vehicle, a 1999 Dodge Caravan was illegally being driven in the breakdown lane where the man was standing.

Jeffrey Knowles, 32, of Quincy, was transported to South Shore Hospital with serious injuries. The 57-year-old driver of the minivan, Maureen Contrino of Weymouth was not injured. She will be charged with operating in the breakdown lane and operating so as to endanger, a criminal offense. If she is convicted, she will face an automatic suspension of her driver's license. Driving to endanger is one of the 64 ways to lose your License in Massachusetts.

The Mass. State Police are still investigating the crash, which was not alcohol related.

As part of the 17th Annual Massachusetts Stand Down, the Mass. RMV assisted hundreds of homeless and at-risk veterans with drivers licensing and Massachusetts Identification Card services at the Chinatown RMV Branch in Boston. Regional Registry Managers helped work the counters to provide services to veterans in need of a driver's license or Mass. ID Card. The Stand Down program is designed to provide free services which include food, shelter, clothing, counseling, health, dental, and other important services to Massachusetts veterans.

In an effort to reduce harmful exhaust emissions, the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles has teamed up with the Department of Environmental Protection to reduce idling vehicles, especially school busses, which are a health hazard. Leaving a vehicle idling for more than 5 minutes is a violation of the Massachusetts anti-idling law, which carries a $100.00 fine for a first offense and up to a $500.00 fine for a second offense. There are exceptions for vehicles being serviced, vehicles making deliveries that need to keep their engines running (to power refrigerators, for example), and vehicles that need to run their engines to operate accessories, such as power lifts.)The Mass. anti-idling campaign will reduce health hazards and diesel pollution.

The Registry of Motor Vehicles will be enacting regulations outlining the necessary steps for schools, bus drivers and other drivers to comply with the law. The regulations will define what is considered “prolonged idling” and will likely indicate where vehicles may idle and may describe "no idling zones." The RMV will notify all Massachusetts school bus drivers about the new regulation. 

There are approximately 64 ways to lose your License or right to drive in Massachusetts. Suspensions reasons range from drunk driving to getting 3 speeding tickets in one year and license suspension periods range from 30 days to lifetime. Some license suspensions can be appealed and vacated entirely, while it is possible to get a hardship license for others. Depending on the suspension reason, it may be possible to get a hardship or work license from either the Mass. Registry of Motor Vehicles or the Massachusetts Board of Appeal. In either case, you will need to attend a hearing and present certain evidence. Hardship licenses are not automatically granted and both the Board and the Registry are concerned about the risk to public safety associated with giving someone a hardship license. If you would like to appeal a Massachusetts License Suspension or you need a hardship license, please contact me.

Attorney Brian E. Simoneau