PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Kerry Moreria was shocked when she went to renew her driver’s license and couldn’t because of a decades-old ticket.
Moreria was told the ticket dated back to 1988.
“‘We can’t renew it because there is something on it from Massachusetts,'” Moreria said she was told by an employee at the R.I. Division of Motor Vehicles.
Moreria reached out to 12 Responds after hearing Tracey Greenhalgh’s story last fall.
Greenhalgh told 12 Responds that she also couldn’t renew her license because of an outstanding ticket, which also dated back to 1988.
“It’s just insane to me that I would get something from such a long time ago,” Greenhalgh said.
12 News reached out to the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) regarding Moreria’s ticket, to which a spokesperson provided a few explanations as to why tickets from 35 years ago are suddenly popping up on drivers’ records.
The spokesperson said the RMV recently underwent a technological upgrade, which may have resurfaced those tickets.
The state may have also enrolled Moreria’s driving record into a state-to-state verification service, the spokesperson added, which could produce duplicates of older violations that appear to be unresolved.
Those explanations don’t sit well with Moreria, however.
“It’s very frustrating and trying to get any information on it is also frustrating,” she said. “I just wonder if this has happened to more people.”
The RMV said there are no known computer system issues causing tickets from 1988 to be processed.
