Maui Driving Examiners Upset With Blame For Failures
TheHawaiiChannel - KITV 4 News -
Maui Driving Examiners Upset With Blame For Failures
Examiners Say County Cut Back On Positions
POSTED: 3:14 pm HST May 14, 2004
HONOLULU -- Driver's license examiners on Maui said they plan to file a union grievance against their bosses because they say they are being wrongly blamed for high failure rates and long waits for road tests.
On Maui, it seems everyone knows someone who is mad at the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Maui residents often struggle for weeks to get an appointment for a road test. The county blames high demand due to the end of the first six-year license cycle. However, veteran examiner and union shop steward Keala Han said over the years the county has cut back from nine examiners to five, leaving examiners overworked and angry.
The other issue is a high failure rate of 63 percent on Maui. That's twice as high as the Big Island or Kauai. The county said the examiners are too strict and are using outdated standards, but Han said the examiners are only following the law. She said the road test route is challenging because it includes several speed limit changes, like school zones, that drivers often miss.
"Many of our applicants disregard the speed limit," Han said.
She also said young drivers, who have taken drivers' education, may not be getting the 50 hours of practice with parents the law requires.
"If the parents don't take them out, of course they are going to fail," Han said.
Maui's finance director Keith Regan said Friday his examiners have often used their union, the Hawaii Government Employees Association, to block changes even when they were for their own good. He said they are doing that now with the latest grievance, but the examiners say Regan's public statements are affecting their work.
Regan said the examiners should use fair judgment during road tests instead of just rigidly following every rule. He said he's asking the state to help come up with more consistent standards. Some on Maui wonder if examiners are taking out their frustration on drivers.
"Is anything like that happening? Because you said people are unhappy?" KITV 4 News reporter Daryl Huff asked.
"Absolutely not. Because we are concerned about the people going out," Han said.
Previous Stories
Maui Driving Examiners Upset With Blame For Failures
Examiners Say County Cut Back On Positions
POSTED: 3:14 pm HST May 14, 2004
HONOLULU -- Driver's license examiners on Maui said they plan to file a union grievance against their bosses because they say they are being wrongly blamed for high failure rates and long waits for road tests.
On Maui, it seems everyone knows someone who is mad at the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Maui residents often struggle for weeks to get an appointment for a road test. The county blames high demand due to the end of the first six-year license cycle. However, veteran examiner and union shop steward Keala Han said over the years the county has cut back from nine examiners to five, leaving examiners overworked and angry.
The other issue is a high failure rate of 63 percent on Maui. That's twice as high as the Big Island or Kauai. The county said the examiners are too strict and are using outdated standards, but Han said the examiners are only following the law. She said the road test route is challenging because it includes several speed limit changes, like school zones, that drivers often miss.
"Many of our applicants disregard the speed limit," Han said.
She also said young drivers, who have taken drivers' education, may not be getting the 50 hours of practice with parents the law requires.
"If the parents don't take them out, of course they are going to fail," Han said.
Maui's finance director Keith Regan said Friday his examiners have often used their union, the Hawaii Government Employees Association, to block changes even when they were for their own good. He said they are doing that now with the latest grievance, but the examiners say Regan's public statements are affecting their work.
Regan said the examiners should use fair judgment during road tests instead of just rigidly following every rule. He said he's asking the state to help come up with more consistent standards. Some on Maui wonder if examiners are taking out their frustration on drivers.
"Is anything like that happening? Because you said people are unhappy?" KITV 4 News reporter Daryl Huff asked.
"Absolutely not. Because we are concerned about the people going out," Han said.
Previous Stories
posted by DP at 6:54 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home