Do Driving Records Count Against Lawyers?

In an article for the Daily Record, the author certainly thinks so.

The author accuses mayor of Morristown, New Jersey, Tim Dougherty, of not property vetting his proposed municipal prosecutor, Craig Gigallon.

Albeit, Gilgallon has an extensive driving record of 2o suspensions in 20 years. He was arrested for driving while intoxicated in 2004. The license, however, show mostly short periods of suspension for failure to pay fine or failure to appear.

What the author may not be aware of is that most traffic offenses are not considered criminal offenses - even license suspension. Also, if a motor vehicle report is considered when making hiring decisions, most records only go back for three years - some states have longer or even shorter limitations than that.

The author argues that as prosecutor he will be prosecuting others for the same offenses, and that is a good point.

What do you think? Are driving records with extensive histories to be considered when vetting for lawyers jobs?

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Student Shares His Name with Bad Driver

Michael Taylor is a pre-law student at Sacramento State.

He is 25 years old and the State of California is certain his DMV record has been severely tainted - enough so that he's been denied employment, his insurance rates have gone up, and all because his name is Michael Benjamin Taylor.

His name has been confused with the Michael Joseph Taylor who was busted in a 2007 car accident for driving without a license and not have proof of insurance. It led to a warrant after failure to appear.

Michael believes that only the suspect's first and last names, as well as the birth date, are being used to track his offenses. Michael has been to the DMV to no avail. Even if something can be removed from his record, something new pops up in a few months. He's battled this way for nearly 6 years.

After considering changing his name, he finally got the media involved. A local news team was able to correct the mistake at the DMV and prevent more mistakes from happening in the future.

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Driving Record in Shambles

45 License Suspensions

29 Warrants on Record

The Hazel Police pulled over Mary Ayers on Friday with an astounding number of infractions on her driving record. Police Chief David Niedermeier said, "She thumbed her nose at the system for many years, and I would anticipate that she will continue to do so."

Ayers is thought to have been driving without a license for at least 15 years. She has many traffic violations in other cities.

Ayers was arrested for the outstanding warrants and held while Hazel Park police impounded the 1999 Jeep she was driving. The plates were registered to a 1991 Pontiac Grand Am that hasn't been listed as stolen, but regardless, the plates didn't match.

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Driving Safer for Teens

Great news for parents of teenagers! A new application disables cell phones while driving.

Jonathan Young, president of Textecution, developed a user-friendly phone application that can disable the cell phone whenever a car is moving. It took two months to develop the software which links the device to the vehicles GPS functions. When the vehicles moves more than 10 mph, all texting is disabled. Once the vehicle stops, it is available again.


Parents are given the authority to enable and disable the software as they see fit, for example, if the teen is a passenger in the car, Mom and Dad would probably be willing to allow them to text while moving.


Textecution is an application for phones utilizing the Android Platform.

Textecution believes the application will be on the phones of most teenagers in three years.

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Train Operators' Spotty Driving Records

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Minor's Extensive Driving Record

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Driver's Ed Instructors Cause Accidents

Putting aside Iowa law, five cities have opted to continue to employ driver instructors who have been convicted of causing traffic accidents in the past two years. Leaders of the partially school-run and private driver education programs indicate a shortage in teachers as the reason for the disregard.

Harlan Superintendent Bill Decker said, "We're not talking about operating a motor vehicle under the influence or fatality situations. We're really talking about fender-bender situations."

Some violators, however, are habitual offenders. Their driving records could raise a serious question for law makers in Iowa.

It appears a loophole was created when department overseeing the driver education program shifted from the Department of Education to the Department of Transportation. It wasn't until a routine check on a teacher found six convictions in 2007 and 2008.

The state obviously put these standards into law for a reason, why they haven't been enforced is another questions. Driving records may seem like small potatoes, but just like a credit report, they can provide a pretty clear history of judgment and decision. Who would you want teaching the young teenagers in your town to drive?

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The Economy and the Job Market: What You Should Know

It seems like everyday I read about more and more companies laying off hundreds, if not thousands, of employees. I find myself looking a little harder at the men and women on the corner asking for change and wonder, will there soon be more?

It is safe to say that with these trying times come many hardships. Even those heavily qualified in their fields may find landing a job to be difficult. The competition is at hand, how will you stack up?

Since companies are hurting, too, corporations are looking far beyond job applications to insure they get the right person for the job. The wrong hiring decision can cost a company thousands of dollars and that is just the start. The loss of productivity in these trying times would pack an especially hard punch.

So, in addition to traditional background screening that includes a criminal background check, address trace, credit report or driving record, they are looking to surveys that convey an applicant's honesty and morality level, and even asking applicants to participate in medical exams to avoid increasing health care costs.

All the tactics to get the right person listed above are legal, but there are some employers taking too many steps and if they are not careful, could end up in hot water. Below are list of things employers should never ask as part of the job applicant screening process:

• Are you planning to have children?
• Is your child-care provider dependable?
• What prescription drugs are you currently using?
• Ever been treated for mental health problems?

Asking questions like these leaves companies open to discrimination lawsuits. When money is at stake, we all get a little more nervous, but make sure to make good, and lawful, hiring decisions and your bottom line might just weather the storm.

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