DMV outage fixed, blamed on nationwide AAMVA network failure
(File: fermate / iStock / Getty Images Plus)
Motor vehicle offices across the U.S. were slowed Thursday morning by a network outage, according to multiple states.
In an alert posted late Thursday morning, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias warned that "all DMVs across the country are currently down." Giannoulias' office said the outage was fixed by 11:30 a.m. Central time.
The notice suggested consumers call their local offices before visiting because operating hours or services like road tests could be impacted by the outage. In Illinois, all morning DMV appointments had to be rescheduled.
Colorado also reported issues, citing "a national outage with the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA)."
"Most driver license services, including online options, are affected, except driver license knowledge tests, endorsement tests and Commercial Driver’s License instruction permit tests, as well as scheduling hearings and requesting motor vehicle records," the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles warned. "There currently is no timeline for when services will be restored."
Virginia, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and New York were among those who also warned about "ongoing issues impacting transactions."
A spokesperson with AAMVA told FOX Television Stations that the network that connects motor vehicle agencies across the United States to each other and to various verification services experienced an outage due to a "loss in cloud connectivity."
"During that time, there was no ability to process messages that support transactions of driver's licenses and motor vehicle titles," the spokesperson continued, adding, "This prevented a number of motor vehicle agencies from issuing driver licenses and vehicle titles during the outage."
The spokespersons said that AAMVA is working internally and with their cloud providers to determine the root cause of the outage.
What is the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators?
The AAMVA is a nonprofit organization that "serves as an information clearinghouse" for motor vehicle administration, law enforcement, and highway safety, according to its website.
The group manages a network connection with access to motor vehicle agency database records across 51 licensing jurisdictions.