Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about DMV Reform

DMV Judge Delays Action Against License of Driver Who Killed Allison Liao

By Brad Aaron | Jan 6, 2015 | 23 Comments

An administrative law judge for the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles today deferred a decision concerning the driver’s license of the motorist who killed 3-year-old Allison Liao. In a packed hearing room at a DMV office in Jamaica, Sidney Fuchs watched video that showed an SUV driven by Ahmad Abu-Zayedeh run over Allison as […]

With Opening at DMV, Cuomo Has Opportunity to Lead on Street Safety

By Stephen Miller | Jan 2, 2015 | 9 Comments

With the retirement of Barbara Fiala, the top position at the Department of Motor Vehicles is vacant, giving Governor Andrew Cuomo an opportunity to appoint someone who will use the state’s oversight of driver education, training, and licensing to improve street safety and prevent traffic deaths. Fiala, 70, is a Democrat who served as Broome County […]

Justice for Allie Liao

By Steve Vaccaro | Dec 19, 2014 | 3 Comments

The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles faces a critical test on January 6 at 9 a.m.: Can the agency provide meaningful oversight and consequences for reckless drivers? That morning, Ahmad Abu-Zayedeh, the driver who struck and killed 3-year-old Allie Liao and traumatized her grandmother, is scheduled to appear for a DMV safety hearing. [Disclosure: […]

DMV Primer: Why Safety Hearings Should Be Held For Non-Fatal Crashes Too

By Steve Vaccaro | Dec 9, 2014 | 1 Comment

This is part of a series of posts on the workings of the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, its role in deterring or facilitating traffic violence, and agency reforms that could make streets and roads safer. Last week I wrote about a key shortcoming in the Department of Motor Vehicles safety hearing program: […]

DMV Primer: How the Safety Hearing System Lets Deadly Drivers Off the Hook

By Steve Vaccaro | Dec 2, 2014 | 11 Comments

This is part of a series of posts on the workings of the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, its role in deterring or facilitating traffic violence, and agency reforms that could make streets and roads safer. Crash victims and their families have learned to expect little from New York City’s police and district […]

The New York State DMV Primer: Why Two Hearings for Killer Drivers?

By Steve Vaccaro | Nov 25, 2014 | 6 Comments

Editor’s note: This is the first installment in a series of Streetsblog columns and stories on the workings of the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, its role in deterring or facilitating traffic violence, and agency reforms that could make streets and roads safer. Many questions arose when news broke that the motorist who […]

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