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LINCOLN — If you took some time off to get a driver's license today, you're out of luck.
And you'll be out of luck Tuesday, too.
A “fluke” power surge ruined today's planned launch of a new state driver's license system. The problem won't be resolved until Wednesday at the earliest, according to Beverly Neth, director of the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles.
As a result, all driver's licensing stations across the state, including the six in Omaha, were closed today.
More than 4,000 people are issued licenses on a typical day, Neth said.
“It's just a fluke, weird thing that happened,” she said.
Neth said she can recall only a handful of such power surges in the past decade.
The surge — a sudden spike in power from electrical lines — occurred Sunday at the State Office Building in Lincoln.
State workers and those with a Massachusetts firm, L1 Identity Solutions, had been working all weekend at that building and at 13 sites across the state, to take down the state's old driver's license system and convert to a new, centralized system.
The new system is billed as being more secure and tougher on identity thieves.
Because the old system had been taken down, Neth said, the state can't issue licenses until the new system is up and running.
In South Omaha, Rob Risolvato got to the door of the Department of Motor Vehicles licensing station at 4107 S. 24th St. this morning only to see a sign saying licensing services were down.
“My license expires Aug. 2,” he said. “They tell you to come down in advance, so this is going to put that back.”
Monday was Risolvato's day off. He said it would be another week before he could get back to the office.
Neth said that she wasn't aware of what protection against power surges is available for the State Office Building but that the state has made several successful changeovers in computer systems in past years without similar problems.
She said that the company installing the driver's license system is bonded. The issue of who will pay to fix the problem is a secondary issue right now, she said.
“Our main focus is getting our customers the documents they need,” Neth said.
Contact the writer: 402-473-9584, paul.hammel@owh.com
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