By Adam Swift
Residents in the Mill Street area said they are tired of driving schools using their neighborhood as a training course.
At Monday night’s city council meeting, several residents spoke in favor of a motion filed by Councillors Angela Guarino-Sawaya and Jim Mercurio seeking to address the issue.
The motion asks that the mayor request the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles to review and enforce regulations regarding driving school instructors conducting on-road instruction in Revere in a disruptive manner which places a burden on local infrastructure and public safety resources.
Several other councillors said that while they supported the motion, the RMV could be limited in what it can do to control the driving schools under state law and suggested the city look at a combination of local regulations and enforcement to get the issue under control.
Mill Street resident Nikolos Kostopoulos said he has contacted several councilors about what is going on with the driving schools on Mill Street and the surrounding area.
“We are inundated with driving schools, and I think what is happening is the Registry does their driving test in our neighborhood and the driving schools know this, so they teach their students in that neighborhood,” said Kostopoulos.
He said he can’t really fault the driving schools for wanting the best outcome for their students, but that it has affected the quality of life for the neighborhood with lessons and traffic early in the morning and other disturbances.
“Fifteen feet after a major intersection, a four-way intersection, they’re doing a U-turn, they’re trying to parallel park against traffic – it’s just a line of cars down the neighborhood,” said Kostopoulos. “This is going on constantly.”
Kostopoulos said one instructor confronted him about filming the activity and acted inappropriately. He added that part of the problem seems to be that the driving schools meet up at the MDC skating rink, creating issues for the neighborhoods near it.
Another resident noted that the driving instruction involves schools not just from Revere, but also from surrounding communities.
“This motion addresses a growing concern I am hearing directly from the residents in the ward,” said Mercurio. “These streets have effectively become informal training grounds for multiple driving schools, creating ongoing strain on both the quality of life and public safety. During my campaign for Ward 1, while standing with signs at the corner of Broadway and Vinal, I personally observed as many as 10 different driving school vehicles circling through the area at the same time.”
Residents are reporting repeated stop-and-go driving, sudden braking, improper turns, and vehicles pulling over unpredictably, Mercurio said.
“All of which are expected behaviors for learners, but when multiplied across numerous schools in a dense residential neighborhood, it creates a real safety concern,” he said.
Guarino-Sawaya said she has been in touch with Mayor Patrick Keefe and state Representative Jessica Giannino about the issue and that they have been looking for solutions from the RMV.
“This is not about limiting drivers’ education at all, it is about ensuring that it is conducted safely and responsibly within residential neighborhoods,” said Guarino-Sawaya.
Councillor-at-Large Marc Silvestri said he previously met with residents in the neighborhood about the concerns, and after doing some research, found that there are no restrictions on the driving schools from the RMV.
“Now, (the city) could initiate times that they can operate and move forward with issues like that and then we would have to have our own police department enforce those,” said Silvestri. “The only thing we can really do is enforce hours of when they can operate, and then have our police department really enforce traffic violations.”