Altogether, 1,894 customers with appointments were affected, according to the DMV. About 600 of them waited around until the computers came back online and were served Friday afternoon or returned to one of 16 driver’s license offices that take walk-in customers on Saturday mornings.
But about 1,300 people with appointments Friday made arrangements to come back later, said spokesman Marty Homan. DMV staff asked what day and time they could return and put them on a list of “priority walk-ins” who would be moved to the front of the line when they arrived, Homan said.
“They’re just kind of shoehorning them in where they’re able,” he said.
In many DMV offices, open appointments are hard to come by, with customers often having to book one weeks or months in advance. Most who lost their appointments Friday chose to return as priority walk-ins within a few days.
The computer outage originated with a software update by CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity company used by governments and businesses around the world. It affected a wide range of government and private operations and forced airlines to cancel and delay thousands of flights across the country.
The DMV was able to get its computers up and running by early afternoon Friday. The agency now reserves afternoons for walk-in customers, making appointments only before noon.
It’s not unusual for a power or internet outage to force a DMV driver’s license office to close for a few hours or a day, said Homan. Sometimes the solution is to steer customers to the nearest DMV office that’s still online. That wasn’t an option Friday, Homan said.
“We have these kinds of things that happen in certain areas that might affect an office or two or even 10,” he said. “To have this affect every single office, it’s a big deal.”
The DMV thinks it has accounted for all 1,894 customers who could not be served at the appointed time Friday.
“If there are any outliers, they just need to reach out to us, and we will take care of them,” Homan said.
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