Computer problems are being blamed for causing an unexpected statewide shutdown of motor vehicle licensing offices Friday afternoon.

The problem forced the city to test its disaster recovery plan for the first time and although a major inconvenience for customers, the situation proved the system works.

Staff at the Motor Vehicle and Licensing offices first started having trouble getting access to the mainframe around 11:30 a.m. Friday.

City customer services director, Dennis Kamimura said city IT administrators kept them updated on the repairs. 

"They told me at first it would be done in 30 minutes then came back out and said there was a major problem," said Kamimura.

Motor Vehicle & Licensing offices were able to process written drivers’ license tests and taxi cab tests, but forced to shut down for the rest of the day. 

"This is the first time that has ever occurred in my thirty-five plus years where the computer has been shut down for more than thirty minutes," said Kamimura.

Department of Information and Technology Director, Gordon Bruce said the problem was computer hardware failure.  He said when they realized the main computer system would require a new part, they kicked in the protocol for disaster recovery -- basically a backup system.

The system was fixed and switched back by midnight, so at least the website was back online for the weekend.

"We came in this morning and we had to reset some routers at the various satellite city halls, which was expected. Once we did that, then the systems started working," said Bruce.