As many as 280,000 California motorists seeking driver's-license renewals might have been snared by a Department of Motor Vehicles computer glitch that left them without a permanent driver's license - and the prospect that their temporary ones will expire before the error can be corrected.

Between March and July, the drivers received letters telling them they had to go to DMV field offices for new vision tests and pictures before their licenses were renewed.

The computer problem kicked in when the drivers went to the DMV. A new computer program that was installed in March - and used just for these renewals - was configured to process a license renewal only if the picture was taken first, followed by the vision test. Reversing that order effectively killed the renewal.

The problem was fixed statewide July 23. But an unknown number of drivers still don't have permanent licenses, and their temporary ones are about to expire or perhaps already have.

Richard Jimenez of Mission Viejo was given a temporary license in mid-June that will expire Thursday and still doesn't have a permanent one. It's causing some anxiety because he needs a valid license for his job and for his cruise to Mexico on Aug. 18.

"What burns me up is they don't make this stuff public,'' said Jimenez, who went to the DMV office in Laguna Hills. "Why not just make a public announcement when they know they have a problem? It's frustrating to not know what's going on. I called them several times, and they could never tell me what was wrong."

DMV spokesman Bill Branch said officials did not make a public announcement in June when they first learned of the problem because DMV officials believed until recently that only a small number of people were affected and that it would be best to handle each customer complaint individually. They also didn't want to spread any unnecessary panic.

"Why concern a lot of people who aren't even potentially affected by the problem?" Branch said.

But after the inquiry by The Orange County Register, Branch on Friday said that department employees will now work through this weekend to process the delinquent licenses and that everyone should have their permanent license no later than Sept. 9. Temporary licenses are being given in the meantime.

The maximum of 280,000 who might have been affected is about 8 percent of the more than 2.1 million driver's licenses issued by DMV during the four-month period the computer problem existed, Branch said.

The DMV has a history of computer glitches. In the early 1990s, the agency spent more than $50 million on a failed computer system that was supposed to merge driver's license databases with vehicle registration databases. Its current computer system captures thumbprints but is unable to run the prints against others in the database, something that could guard against identity theft. DMV officials say it would cost at least $13 million to fix this problem.

ocRegister

-- Anonymous, August 11, 2002