MA Highway Safety Chief Loses Job Over Driving Record

The Massachusetts Highway Safety Division director has lost her job after a newspaper reported that her driving record included seven accidents, four speeding violations and one failure to wear a seat belt.

Secretary of Public Safety and Security Mary Elizabeth Heffernan tells the Boston Globe that Sheila Burgess will be assigned to a "different role" within the department. Burgess has been on medical leave since she suffered a head injury in an August crash.

Heffernan says that "given her driving record, it is clear that Ms. Burgess should not have been hired as thedirector of Highway Safety in 2007."

The Globe reported Sunday that Burgess has 34 entries on her driving record since 1982. Burgess declined to answer detailed questions about the latest accident and her job.

Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press