The Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration mistakenly issued driver’s licenses to dead people and allowed repeat drunken drivers to remove Breathalyzers installed in their cars despite failing sobriety tests, a new audit shows.

The MVA dispensed driver’s licenses to people who provided the Social Security numbers of the deceased, in part, because the Division of Vital Records with the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene failed to update death records, said Buel Young, an MVA spokesman.

“We are making program changes to match death records with SS numbers and like anything else, it takes time so we hope to have this fixed by next spring,” he said.

The MVA also failed to revoke the licenses of drunken drivers who continued to fail sobriety tests on Breathalyzers through the state’s Ignition Interlock program, according to an audit released Monday from the state’s Office of Legislative Audits.

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Instead, the MVA sent out letters congratulating drunken drivers on their completion of the program, telling repeatedly intoxicated motorists that they would be returned to normal driving status and have the Breathalyzers removed. In other cases, the MVA didn’t make sure Breathalyzers were even installed.

“The system has been updated, and we are now putting a flag on the records so we can better monitor the program,” Young said.

“We are also having a supervisor sign off on any letter that goes out.”

The state’s transportation secretary, John Porcari, vowed to fix the problems.

“The Maryland Department of Transportation will work closely with the MVA to address the deficiencies identified in the audit through an aggressive corrective action plan,” he wrote to the state this month.

AT A GLANCE

Other Motor Vehicle Administration violations:

» MVA allowed vehicle dealerships to issue temporary vehicle registrations to ineligible individuals.

» Titling and registration late payment fines totaling $824,000 due from dealerships were waived without a review of documentation.

» MVA did not take timely action to suspend vehicle registrations for motor-ists with lapses in insurance coverage.

Source: State Office of Legislative Audits

kvolkmann@baltimoreexaminer.com