Rick Gunn/Nevada Appeal Department of Motor Vehicle technician Rina Silva sits in the nearly empty DMV office Tuesday after the computer system went down for five hours statewide.
A computer "hiccup" stopped traffic at Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles offices statewide Tuesday.
"The system hiccupped this morning and when it came back up, we were unable to communicate with the Department of Information Technology mainframe," said Tom Jacobs of DMV.
Without that connection, he said the only business DMV offices around the state could conduct was written exams, driving tests and temporary permits. Everything else - including issuing driver's licenses, registrations, titling and renewals - requires the computer.
The system went down about 10 a.m. and wasn't running again until 3:30 p.m. But since no one knew when it would be fixed, the offices were manned throughout the day.
At the Carson City office, employees waited, ready to resume work, but there were no customers in the normally busy office since because information desk was forced to turn away most who came in.
Jacobs said the other DMV offices around the state looked much the same throughout the day.
He estimated about 7,000 customers were turned away.
"But it's important that all Nevada motorists know they won't be penalized as a result," said Jacobs. "It's not the citizen's fault, and the citizen will not pay a price for it."
He said because the offices were shut down Tuesday, managers expect a crowd to show up today - especially in the state's five metropolitan offices.
"They recognize that's going to occur, so they're adjusting schedules and shifts to make sure there are more people available in the morning," he said. "We'll adapt and adjust."
He said, for example, some employees sent home early will be brought in earlier.
Mark Blomstrom, deputy director for the state's information/technology department, said no other state agencies were affected by the problem, which he described as a software glitch in the data communications program.
Blomstrom said it also has nothing to do with the new IBM computer mainframes which went on line last month.
As of 3:30 p.m. "the recalcitrant software at DMV is up and running again," he said.
Contact Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.