WSVN — He made a mistake; he paid the price. But he can’t get his license back because he has a lung disease, meaning he will never be able to drive. Can a disease block you from getting a license? Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser has the answer.
When we met George Massie, his life was a mess. And the person he blames for it? You are looking at him.
Patrick Fraser: “So you are not blaming anybody else?”
George Massie: “My stupidity is a good person to blame.”
In May 2013, George was on his way to the grocery store. His car bumped another car.
George Massie: “No damage to the car, no damage to anybody, no damage to the driver.”
But George was charged with DUI.
George Massie: “And I had had some wine. We had a dinner. That’s where I had come from. I was drinking; I mean, no doubt about it.”
George went to court, pleaded no contest, paid his fines, went to classes. He did everything that was required, but since he was caught drinking and driving in Texas in 1981, to get his license back he had to install an interlock device that he would blow into to prove he was sober.
George Massie: “So I went over and I took that test, and I couldn’t pass it because I don’t have enough breath to do that.”
George has a serious lung disease, and simple breathing is difficult. So the Division of Motor Vehicles lowered the level of air he had to push out of his lungs. He went and took another test.
George Massie: “And the testing center tested me and they said, ‘You can’t pass that, either.'”
The state said, “Try again.” Same result.
George Massie: “They said, ‘Keep trying, keep trying.’ I had three doctors said it’s not going to happen. Even the company that tests for that wrote here, I can’t pass it, and I never will pass it.”
George’s lung disease will never get better, only worse, but he says the state said, “Try again.”
George Massie: “So I’m supposed to go back after going four times, and keep trying and trying and trying and trying, but it’s not gonna work. It’s just not.”
But months after he was eligible to get his license reinstated, George can’t get it because his lungs are shot and he can’t blow enough air into this device to make it work.
George Massie: “I really think, if there is anybody to blame for my situation other than my own stupidity at first, it’s the system. It just doesn’t work.”
Well, Howard, George can’t blow enough air to make the interlock device work. So, legally, can he be blocked from ever getting a driver’s license again?
Howard Finkelstein: “No. George has a medical condition that prevents him from blowing with enough force to activate the device. That means, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the state must provide George with a reasonable accommodation that will allow him to get his license and drive.”
We contacted the Division of Motor Vehicles. They asked to have George’s lungs tested again. He went. He failed.
The state then agreed to waive the requirement for the interlock device. In return, George will have to go to monthly DUI classes and only be allowed to drive for employment purposes for one year.
Twenty months after losing his license, George got it back.
Howard Finkelstein: “If you have a condition that prevents you from satisfying legal requirements like George had, there may an alternative, an option that will get you what you need. And you don’t have to find that loophole. Tell the agency your problem, and they should accommodate you.”
George Massie: “You guys have done a wonderful job.”
George was happy to get his license back, but in the 20 months without it, his business has taken a turn for the worse, and he’s in very bad shape.
George Massie: “Well, I tell you what, I don’t have enough money to eat.”
And George is broke because he has an online travel service for South America, but his only computer broke and he can’t afford a new one. When it rains, it pours. Hopefully things are turning around for him.
Met a troublemaker you think is full of hot air? Ready to blow them off? Test us for a solution. Because we are driven to be a breathe of fresh air.
With this Help Me Howard, I’m Patrick Fraser, 7News.
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