Letter Report on the Public Administrators’ Monitoring of Their Employees Who Drive City-Owned or Personally-Owned Vehicles on City Business

AUDIT REPORT IN BRIEF

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This audit determined if the Public Administrators 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 prior to the start of the audit, the Public Administrators were not aware of the City’s Regulations regarding the monitoring of their employees’ driving behavior or the requirements promoting driver safety.   We advised them of these requirements prior to the start of audit fieldwork.  The Public Administrators then implemented procedures to become compliant with the City’s Regulations.   Each Public Administrator has appointed an Agency Transportation Coordinator (ATC), enrolled its employees DMV  LENS program, and learned 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 the regulations.   Additionally, Public Administrators are also now 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 and are implementing these programs.

In their written responses, the Public Administrators agreed with the report.