AUGUSTA – In the wake of a fatal crash involving a Presque Isle truck driver with 42 driving convictions and 19 license suspensions, a former Maine secretary of state said, “There’s a whole group of folks like this out there. It’s a time bomb waiting to go off.”
Former Secretary of State and Sen. Bill Diamond, D-Windham, said the sad, untold story is that a large number of people like Scott Hewitt, 32, of Presque Isle, are driving with a suspended license and with a long list of offenses. “Common sense dictates that it’s absolutely unacceptable,” Diamond said Wednesday.
Tragedy is preventable, “but keeps repeating itself. Maine drivers are dodging bullets every day with these types of records, and they need to know it,” Diamond said. “This is not just a freak accident here.”
Maine law allows licenses to be taken away permanently in some manslaughter convictions, and for three or four years with other serious offenses. Diamond questioned why licenses could not be taken away for life, or chronic offenders sent to jail.
Gov. John Baldacci and other lawmakers said Friday’s crash will result in an investigation of how to get bad drivers off the roads.
Baldacci is calling on the chief of Maine State Police, Col. Craig Poulin; Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap and Commissioner of Transportation David Cole to review Friday’s crash, which killed Lisa Turcotte, 40, of Scarborough. Bad drivers will not be tolerated, the governor warned.
“This should serve as a wake-up call to anyone driving with a suspended license” that their suspensions are “serious warnings that your driving is unsafe,” Baldacci said.
Dunlap agreed there are frequent crashes involving drivers with suspended licenses, including a triple fatality last month in Sebago. Of Maine’s 980,000 drivers, the secretary of state’s office estimates that 3.2 percent have between 10 to 14 driving convictions, and 4.5 percent have had their license suspended five or more times.
Maine will consider an out-of-state “bad driver” program, Dunlap said.
In New Jersey, motorists convicted of serious offenses have to pay more to get their licenses back. The hope that is paying more will motivate bad drivers to improve. New Jersey’s program charges annual surcharges of $1,000 per year for three years for one drunken driving conviction. Operating after suspension costs $250 extra a year. The costs go up with multiple charges, Dunlap said. The bad driver program has been considered before in Maine. “It’s worth taking another look at,” Dunlap said Wednesday.
Rep. Richard Sykes, R-Harrison, and Rep. Patricia Blanchette, D-Bangor, said they would support tougher laws. “There has to be a limit on how many times you give someone a driving privilege,” Blanchette said. Sykes questioned whether laws are sufficient “for people with terrible driving records and a blatant disregard of citizens.”
But Poulin said stiff penalties exist. Personal accountability is part of the answer. “People need to change their attitudes about how they drive.” If they lose their license, they need to realize they need to change their habits, he said.
People who drive with suspended licenses have always been a frustrating problem, he said. The only way to guarantee they don’t drive is to lock them up. “And that’s not practical,” Poulin said.
Speed has been a growing problem on Maine highways. In response, police are increasing enforcement and stopping more motorists, Poulin said. “It isn’t going to get everyone.”
Comments are no longer available on this story