BMV Computer Glitches Keep Trucker From Working

INDIANAPOLIS -- Computer problems at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles could hardly have come at worse time for Chester Brown.

Brown, a trucker who said the BMV erroneously suspended his commercial driver's license because it lost his proof of insurance, tried to get the license reinstated on July 5, the day the agency started using a new computer system.

Unfortunately for Brown and many other people who visited license branches that day and for the next few days, the computer system had glitches. Some services couldn't be performed, and others took a long time.

Brown returned to a branch on July 6 and 7. Each time, the computer system was down, keeping Brown from his job.

"I'm not working all this time," he said.

Eventually, he got the BMV to admit that his license was good, but that didn't get him back on the road immediately. His employer wouldn't let him drive until state police confirmed his license was valid, and when Brown talked to police, they said their computer system -- apparently accessing a different database than the license branch computers -- still showed an invalid license.

BMV spokesman Greg Cook said Wednesday that state police have now merged their computer system with the BMV's new programs, so Brown's problems should soon be resolved.

Cook said license reinstatement problems have been among the hardest to fix.

"The reinstatement part of the branch last night was open until 9 p.m. to process individual transactions," Cook said. "There's still some issues, but we're working hard to fix those."