Letter Report on New York City’s Administrative Oversight Entities’ Monitoring of Employees Who Drive City-Owned or Personally-Owned Vehicles on City Business

LETTER REPORT IN BRIEF

This audit determined if the Administrative Oversight Entities are effectively monitoring their employees who drive City-owned or personally-owned vehicles on City business.

New York City requires that only those employees who exercise reasonable care in operating City- or personally-owned vehicles be allowed to use them to conduct City business.  This requirement is outlined in the City of New York’s “City Vehicle Driver Handbook” (Regulations). All agency heads through the Agency Transportation Coordinator (ATC) must ensure that all employees assigned a City-owned vehicle either for full-time use or temporary use are authorized to drive.  It is also the ATC’s responsibility to ensure that these drivers have valid licenses and insurance (if they are driving their personal vehicles).  The driver’s license should be a New York State License unless the employee is exempt from City residency requirements.  If this is the case, then the authorized driver must have a valid license from the state where he/she resides and must have the appropriate classification for the vehicle which he/she is driving on City business. The Regulations further specify that City agencies must establish programs that promote safety along with proper training in the use of motor vehicles.

In following these criteria, City agencies use the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles’ (DMV) License Event Notification System (LENS). The ATC is responsible for notifying DMV of all agency-authorized drivers. This enables the DMV’s LENS program to notify the ATC of any event that affects the driver’s license.  This includes: if a license is expiring; points accrued; accidents; driving while impaired; or driving while under the influence.  This enables the ATC to ensure that only employees with valid licenses are driving on City business.  The City’s policy recommends that agencies participate in LENS to monitor the driving behavior of their employees.

Results

We found that these Administrative Oversight Entities do not require their employees to use a City-owned or personally-owned vehicle to conduct City business and, as of June 30, 2012, did not own or have a contractor-leased vehicle.  In addition, these Entities did not own or have any vehicles registered to their agency or use a leased or contractor-provided vehicle as of June 30, 2012.  The Administrative Oversight Entities are aware of the City’s Regulations concerning the effective monitoring of the driving behavior of authorized drivers.  They are also aware of how to subscribe to the DMV’s LENS program and how to receive updates and revoke the privileges of those drivers who have a suspended or revoked license in a timely manner as prescribed by regulations.  Additionally, they are also familiar with the regulations to ensure that employees who drive their personal vehicles for City business have the proper insurance. They are also aware of the regulation to provide their employees with the required safety awareness program. 

In their responses, both the Administrative Oversight Entities agencies agreed with the report.