Driver’s License Revocation for Immediate Threat Reversed

KG, the owner of a large construction company on Nantucket, is a giving man. He built a beautiful home for his sister and installed a large sea-shell covered driveway for her. The home and property was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, but KG did not ask for any payment in return. He had only one request: to store their brother’s 1982 vintage Chevy pickup truck in the garage. Their brother was killed when he was just 18 years old and had completely restored the pickup. KG had kept the pickup truck for more than a decade as a keepsake. The truck had tremendous emotional value to KG. KG’s sister agreed. Soon after KG completed construction of the house for his sister, KG’s niece and her husband convinced KG’s sister to sign the house over to them for “estate planning purposes”. The niece and nephew quickly moved into the house and treated it as their own. KG was very upset, as he had built the house for his sister, not them. Then, one day, KG was driving by the house when he noticed that his niece and nephew had put his brother’s car outside and left it out in the rain with the windows open. KG was enraged. He went back to his construction warehouse, got into a bulldozer and drove to the house. When he got there, he began digging the shells off the driveway. The niece and nephew came running outside, with a friend, and tried to stop him. Their friend tried to stop KG as well. Not a good idea. KG drove the bulldozer at the friend and almost ran him over. Unbeknownst to KG, the friend was an off-duty Massachusetts State Trooper. The Trooper pulled his badge and tried to get KG to stop. KG again drove the bulldozer at him. After digging up the entire driveway and leaving a huge pile of shells blocking the entrance to the house, KG drove the bulldozer back the construction yard, only to be met by police officers. KG was charged criminally and the State Trooper reported the incident to the Registry of Motor Vehicles. The Registry revoked KG’s driver’s license upon determining that he posed a immediate threat to the public. The law allows the RMV to revoke a person’s license or right to operate if the RMV determines that the person poses an “immediate threat” to the lives or safety of the public. It is often used in cases where a person uses a motor vehicle to assault someone or to intentionally destroy property. We also see an “immediate threat” used by the RMV to revoke the driving privileges of elderly persons who in the eyes of the RMV are not competent or fit to drive.The revocation was permanent and meant that KG could no longer work without having to hire a full-time driver. It also meant that he could no longer take his kids to and from school or do any of his normal activities. It was disastrous. KG retained attorney Joshua Lewin to challenge his immediate threat license revocation. Attorney Lewin prepared the case and represented KG at a hearing at the RMV. Attorney Lewin presented a compelling case to a hearing officer. After the hearing, the Hearing Officer reinstated his license. KG returned to Nantucket – driving himself all the way home from Boston.