Name twin's misdeeds plague a good driver
Again, Registry's mixup triggers bid to pull license
Nearly everyone has to share a name with someone, somewhere. David Edward Greene just wishes his counterpart hadn't been such a nightmare on the roadways.
For the third time in 10 years, Greene, who lives in Arlington, is facing torment as his license comes due for renewal. The Registry of Motor Vehicles has sent him notice that it is about to revoke his license because of unresolved out-of-state driving offenses. That means Greene, a driver with one ticket in 25 years, has to prove he is not David Eugene Greene of Florida, who has the same birthdate but is a convicted sex offender whose license was revoked for multiple drunk driving arrests and court defaults.
Previously, Greene of Arlington has presented a range of documentation, including a letter from Florida motor vehicle officials to prove he is not a scofflaw from the Sunshine State. In the past, Massachusetts officials eventually granted him a new license -- although once it happened after he inadvertently drove for several weeks with a revoked license, risking arrest and the impoundment of his car if he was pulled over.
''I just got the letter again," the 43-year-old radio talk show producer said last week with a weary sigh as he contemplated yet another skeptical look from a Registry clerk, another arched eyebrow.
''I don't think I can face this," he said. ''Every other time I've done it in the past, they just give you the same bureaucratic response. Whenever you talk to them, it's: 'Yeah, right, buddy, you're innocent.' They really think you're guilty because this computer thing says you are."
He is not alone. State officials say they send ''tens of thousands" of license revocation notices to Massachusetts drivers each year, all timed to renewals required every five years. The state sends the notices based on information received from the National Driver Register, a database of records from across the United States maintained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Each state regularly feeds driver record information into the national register, which then sends data to state motor vehicle departments with every possible match to drivers with problem records elsewhere.
State officials say they do not review the data before they use it for revocation letters. Registry officials acknowledge they cast a wide net -- and that it will inevitably snare an unknown number of innocents like Greene.
With more than 5 million licenses to keep track of in Massachusetts, double-checking the information from the national register ''is a task that is too large for us to undertake," deputy registrar Erin Deveney said last week.
''It is one of those things that the agency understands the frustration of consumers, but the greater overall need of public safety has this unfortunate result," Deveney said.
Deveney said the agency does not compile statistics on how many people, like David Edward Greene, are falsely accused and must prove they were victims of mistaken identity.
Greene, who had to renew a third time in 10 years because he moved out of state, called it un-American that he and others are considered ''guilty until proven innocent" by the registry. Deveney, however, called a driver's license ''a privilege, not a right" and said the agency considers it appropriate to require drivers to prove themselves legally eligible to drive.
''As a measure of public safety, the Registry has to err on the side of caution," she said.
The matchup system ignores small differences in spellings and different middle names, in an effort to prevent problem drivers from keeping or obtaining licenses.
Ellen Martin, a spokeswoman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said last week that the federal agency maintains the national register in a ''passive way," relying on the states to make sure the information they supply is accurate and to properly use the data they glean from the register.
Frank Penela, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, said his agency tries to verify that it is sending revocation notices to the right drivers by comparing Social Security numbers -- a key difference between the two Greenes.
''It's just part of our thorough system," he said. ''We try to make sure."
Deveney, however, said the records the state receives from the national register do not contain Social Security information.
In Massachusetts, the bottom line for Arlington's David E. Greene is that he will probably continue to be matched in the system with the Florida David E. Greene, particularly because they were both born on the same day in June 1961, officials said.
Not only has the Arlington David Greene had just one ticket in 25 years, but being erroneously branded a highway menace is even more embarrassing because he is also a producer of the nationally known ''Car Talk" radio show, whose hosts, Ray and Tom Magliozzi, regularly excoriate bad drivers on air. Greene said Ray Magliozzi, who lives near him, jokingly offered to give him a lift to the show's Harvard Square offices if he can't get his license problems cleared up.
The similarities between the two drivers seem to end at their birthdays and names. The Arlington Greene is taller, with dark hair and corrective lenses. The Florida Greene is blond. The Florida Greene has four drunken driving arrests on his record and a history of failing to appear in court, while the Arlington Greene is just one ticket and one patch of ice -- which once caused him to back into a neighbor's Volvo -- away from a perfect driving record.
''I'm a step 11, but I think of myself as a step 9," he said, the latter referring to the best possible state designation for drivers.
Greene is facing the same process he has gone through before, getting a letter from Florida officials distinguishing him from their man, and providing a copy of his own record. But no matter how thoroughly he clears up the problem, it is likely to crop up again. The best hope for a permanent solution for Greene, and for other drivers in his shoes, is when the problem driver in the other state clears up his record, Deveney said.
Unfortunately for the Arlington Greene, it appears his Florida namesake will have little opportunity or motivation to improve his record anytime soon.
David Eugene Greene is currently incarcerated at the Florida Civil Commitment Center in Arcadia, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. David Eugene Greene himself could not be reached. He has two convictions for sex crimes on his record, and is serving an open-ended civil commitment as a sexual predator, and will not be released until he can prove he is no longer sexually dangerous.
Massachusetts officials offer little comfort: ''If the bad David Greene doesn't resolve his situation in the other state, this is unfortunately going to come up again," Deveney said.
Ralph Ranalli can be reached at ranalli@globe.com. 