Change to MVD emissions alerts causes over 3k car registration suspensions, continued issues

THE STATE.. WHEN IT'S. TIME TO RENEW THEIR CAR. REGISTRATION.

THE SAME. GOES FOR THE TENS OF. THOUSANDS WHO NEED. EMISSIONS.

TESTS ... BUT WHEN M-V-D. QUIETLY CHANGED THOSE. REMINDERS LATE LAST.

YEAR... THOUSANDS OF. DRIVERS DIDN'T. GET THE MESSAGE.

INSTEAD. THEY GOT FINED AND. ITS STILL HAPPENING TO. SOME.

ON SPECIAL. ASSIGNMENT ... NEWS 13'S. CHRIS MCKEE QUESTIONED.

THE STATE ABOUT THE MESS. IT CREATED. 00:45:52 Sound of black car passing 00:19:15 sound of car passing side to side from ground level 00:09:52 sound of cars passing on freeway A. LOT OF ALBUQUERQUE.

DRIVERS CAN RELATE... 00:15:35 "Right, of course" TO SANDY. OHLGREN. TO SANDY OHLGREN.

00:01:07 "It's just the 00:00:57 "I'm retired THE RINGER WITH THE NEW. MEXICO. MOTOR VEHICLE. DEPARTMENT...

OVER THAT. SPECIAL EMISSIONS TEST. BERNALILLO COUNTY. DRIVERS NEED.

00:12:09 "What would you tell the state?" 12:11 "Umm ... Get your act together... Haha" 12:14 SANDY HAS ALWAYS. FOLLOWED THE RULES...

00:01:14 "Always" REGISTERING HER CAR.. AND... 00:21:10 "There you go!" 00:02:01 Sound of barcode scanner beeping 00:25:12 sound of gas cap clicking GETTING HER. EMISSIONS CHECKED.

STATE. LAW REQUIRES MOST CARS. REGISTERED IN BERNALILLO. COUNTY TO GET AN.

EMISSIONS TEST EVERY TWO. YEARS. THAT WASN'T A. PROBLEM FOR SANDY..

00:05:20 "Yes I was very surprised!!" ...UNTIL. RECENTLY. 00:05:42 "It made me angry and frustrated" 05:44 SHE'S ONE OF. THOUSANDS OF CAR.

OWNERS.. WHO THE STATE. HAS FINED FOR OVERDUE. EMISSIONS TESTS THEY.

NEVER KNEW ABOUT. 00:14:00 "It felt like a scam to ask me for 30 dollars for something I. Felt wasn't my mistake" 14:06 A RETIRED TEACHER. WHO STAYS ON HER.

BILLS... SANDY'S. CAR REGISTRATION WAS. SUSPENDED IN FEBRUARY ..

JUST WEEKS AFTER SHE. RENEWED IT. 00:05:25 "And of course the first thing you HER MONEY.. SANDY EVEN.

GOT NEW STICKERS FOR HER. LICENSE PLATE. 00:02:41"I just thought everything was fine!" 02:42 BUT IN A RECENT. EMAIL ...

THE NEW MEXICO. DEPARTMENT MOTOR. VEHICLES TOLD SANDY THEY. WERE SUSPENDING HER CAR.

REGISTRATION BECAUSE SHE. FAILED TO GET AN. EMISSIONS TEST. TO DRIVE.

HER CAR AGAIN .. M-V-D. WANTED PROOF OF A NEW. EMISSIONS TEST..

AND AN. EXTRA 30 DOLLARS. 00:03:28 "Which I guess is the part that angered me the most" 03:30 M-V-D. CLAIMED IT WARNED SANDY.

ABOUT HER EXPIRING. EMISSIONS TEST.. THROUGH. A LETTER THEY SENT HER.

IN LATE JANUARY. BUT. THAT'S THE PROBLEM. 00:06:05 "Do you think you ever got one of those? 06:07 "No, absolutely not..." 06:09 SANDY SAYS SHE.

NEVER GOT THAT. REMINDER LETTER. WITHOUT. A NOTICE..

SANDY DIDN'T. KNOW HER TEST WAS. EXPIRING. 00:12:25 "In the past, you've always received a notice and I've always paid attention to it" 12:29 AND IT'S NOT JUST.

SANDY'S PROBLEM. IN THE. LAST FIVE. MONTHS...

M-V-D. SUSPENDED AND REINSTATED. MORE THAN 3643 REGISTRATIONS.. AFTER.

DRIVERS FAILED TO GET. EMISSIONS TESTS. BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T. NOTIFIED.

MORE THAN A. THOUSAND. PEOPLE HAVE PAID A 30 DOLLAR FEE. 00:34:04 "Most drivers are used to getting emissions reminders during their car registration.

And for years, sent out these that all changed, last year" 34:17 IN SEPTEMBER.. WITHOUT. TELLING ANYONE ... M-V-D.

REMOVED THE. EMISSIONS TEST REMINDER. FROM REGISTRATION. POSTCARDS ...

AND. STARTED SENDING SEPARATE. EMISSIONS. LETTERS TO PEOPLE.

00:15:16 "It drives me nuts, it really does" 15:18 00:04:47 "FastTest Emissions?" EMISSIONS. TEST SHOP OWNER... GREG. HOWLAND HAS GOTTEN AN.

EARFUL FROM HUNDREDS OF. CUSTOMERS WHO SAY THEY. NEVER GOT AN EMISSIONS. NOTIFICATION.

00:02:51 "They were used to seeing emissions test required" 02:54 00:02:22 "...And they're not seeing it anymore, so they're ignoring it" 02:24 HOWLAND ALSO HAD. NO IDEA THE CHANGE WAS. COMING. 00:06:15 "You always want to make it simple, you don't want to make it complicated and that's what they've done" 06:20 SO WE ASKED.

M-V-D ABOUT IT. SPOKESMAN BEN CLOUTIER. SAYS.. THE CHANGE IS AN.

EFFORT TO GIVE A MORE. ACCURATE NOTICE TO. DRIVERS ABOUT WHEN THEIR. EMISSIONS EXPIRES.

01:44:34 "It would make more sense to allow for your registration renewal reminder, because .... They don't necessarily line up" 44:47 M-V-D DIDN'T THINK IT. NEEDED TO TELL THE. PUBLIC ABOUT.

THE SWITCH EITHER. 01:45:47 "Well since they're getting both notices by mail... It seemed that there wouldn't be much of a difference" 01:45:53 BUT. THE DIFFERENCE..

WAS. THAT THE NEW SYSTEM. DIDN'T WORK. M-V-D.

SAYS SOME EMISSIONS. NOTICES WEREN'T. SENT. THEY CLAIM THE.

PROBLEMS BEEN SOLVED. 01:42:11 "That has been fixed as of early January" 42:13 BUT TRY. TELLING THAT TO SANDY. M-V-D SUSPENDED HER.

REGISTRATION FOR EXPIRED. EMISSIONS ON FEBRUARY. 21. HER EMISSIONS.

NOTICE.. SHOULD HAVE HIT. HER MAILBOX AROUND. JANUARY 20TH.

00:06:49 "There was nothing that came" 06:51 WHILE M-V-D SAYS IT'S. SORRY FOR ANY PROBLEMS. .. BUT ALSO TRIED TO.

SHIFT THE ULTIMATE BLAME. ON DRIVERS TO KEEP TRACK. OF THEIR OWN TESTS. IN.

MULTIPLE EMAILS... M-V-D. TOLD US EMISSIONS. REMINDERS ARE A QUOTE.

"COURTESY" AND. NOT A REQUIREMENT. 01:43:11 "That is something we try to do to help our customers" 43:14 THAT'S NOT EXACTLY WHAT. THE STATE'S EMISSIONS.

PROGRAM RULES SAY. THOUGH. WRITTEN IN THE. NEW MEXICO.

ADMINISTRATIVE CODE IS. LANGUAGE REQUIRING M-V-D. TO SEND EMISSIONS. NOTICE.

QUOTE.. "THE. M-V-D SHALL DISTRIBUTE. NOTICES OR OTHER.

APPROPRIATE. INFORMATION TO OWNERS OF. VEHICLES APPLYING FOR. RE-REGISTRATION...

" WE. SHOWED IT TO M-V-D. 01:54:14 "You seem to be saying this was courtesy... Isn't this the rules? 54:20 Silence 54:22 IN REVIEWING OUR.

FINDINGS CLOUTIER. AGREED. 01:54:46 "Well... According to this...

We ... We are supposed to be sending them out, and we are, so that is good news. 54:52 And I may have been misinformed if that was not the case" 54:57 00:45:53 sound of black sedan passing camera M-V-D SAYS IT. WILL KEEP SENDING.

EMISSIONS REMINDERS.. AND ITS STILL GIVING. REFUNDS TO DRIVERS. WHO'VE PAID ANY PENALTY.

FEES.. BECAUSE OF THE. ISSUE. 01:57:47 "Feel free to come into an office or THEY WISH M-V-D HAD DONE.

THAT TO. BEGIN WITH. 00:13:25 "It's time consuming and I'm not at the end of it yet" 13:29 ON SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT. ...

CHRIS MCKEE.. KRQE. NEWS 13. M-V-D SAYS WITH ITS NEW.

COMPUTER SYSTEM... THERE. SHOULD BE AUTOMATIC. ALERTS ONLINE..

AND AT. SERVICE CENTERS ABOUT. EMISSIONS TESTS. OPEN THE KRQE NEWS APP.

NOW FOR MORE INFORMATION. ON WHAT YOU SHOULD DO.. If YOU'VE BEEN AFFECTED. BY THE EMISSIONS.

NOTIFICATION PROBLEM. LET'S CHECK IN WITH..