MORE DETAILS: Driver’s license and I.D. card extension information for drivers with expired or expiring licenses

The Idaho Transportation Department and county sheriff staff continue to use a workaround solution to issue driver’s licenses. Please check with your local DMV office for hours of operation as more counties open their doors. ITD appreciates our customers and county staff for their patience as driver’s license services come back online in counties across the state.

More information is available about the emergency extension implementation through Oct. 31, 2018, for all Idaho drivers with expiring or expired driver’s licenses due to recent DMV office closures.

Idahoans whose driver’s licenses expired in July and August and have not renewed or licenses will expire in September:

Will automatically have their licenses extended until Oct. 31 by the DMV
This extension will be made to the individual’s DMV record and be visible to law enforcement
The extension will be available to the driver’s vehicle insurance company

Idahoans who are flying commercially whose license have been extended by the DMV need to:

Present their current license to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
The TSA accepts a driver’s license that is up to one year past the expiration date as a valid identity document
If your license has been expired for more than one year, you will need to renew it at a county Sheriff’s DMV office

The extension does not apply to:

Drivers whose privileges are currently suspended
Drivers with Commercial Drivers Licenses who do not have a legal presence document with the DMV
Drivers with Commercial Drivers Licenses with an expired HazMat endorsement

Idahoans who have questions can contact the DMV at:

1-208-334-8736
dlmail@itd.idaho.gov
FAX 1-208-334-8586

DMV provides extension to drivers with expiring or expired licenses; extension in effect immediately

The Idaho Division of Motor Vehicles has implemented an emergency extension through Oct. 31, 2018, for all Idaho drivers with expiring or expired driver’s licenses due to recent DMV office closures. Information about this extension has been communicated to county sheriff, local, state and national law enforcement and is in immediate effect.

ITD DMV Administrator Alberto Gonzalez implemented this emergency extension Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. This comes less than 24 hours after severe vendor software issues forced most DMV county offices that issue driver’s licenses to close their doors.

There are some exclusions to the extension; including Commercial Drivers License (CDLs) holders who do not have a legal presence document on file with Idaho’s DMV and drivers whose privileges are currently withdrawn until reinstatement requirements are fulfilled.

Customers or agencies with questions or in need of documentation to support the extension are encouraged to call the ITD DMV at 208.334.8736 or contact their local sheriff office.

Specific to DMV license services not being available, ITD is working closely with our vendor, sheriffs and county staff to get services online as quickly as possible. Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter also has called a working group of stakeholders together to move forward with a short and long-term fix.

ITD greatly appreciates the patience of our customers and county staff and as we collectively work together to secure a permanent Idaho solution.

Statement from DMV Administrator about recent outages affecting issuance of driver’s license services

Statement from DMV Administrator about recent outages affecting issuance of driver’s license services

Statement from ITD Division of Motor Vehicles Administrator Alberto Gonzalez about recent outages affecting the issuance of driver’s license services in Idaho.

“This level of service affecting citizens, sheriffs and the Idaho Transportation Department is unacceptable. ITD has been continuing to work with our vendor as they work toward a solution, but outages have increased and even spread to other states. We need an Idaho solution.

ITD’s solution is to eliminate the dependency on the real time communication with our vendor’s software. ITD plans to implement the solution statewide by Thursday. It would allow county staff to input customer information in person without having to communicate in real time with our vendor. It will be stored on a server. At the end of the day, information would be provided to the vendor.

We believe this will allow county and ITD staff to provide a level of service our citizens and partners deserve.

To our partners at the county sheriff offices: We appreciate and share your frustration and concerns and are committed to fixing these problems. We are ready to meet with sheriffs and partners on solutions that will help us move forward.”

Below is the letter ITD sent to Canyon County Sheriff Kieran Donahue in response to his correspondence with Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter.

Click here for letter.

ITD recommends county sheriff’s offices close due to ongoing driver’s license issuance problems

12:10 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 28

BOISE—Due to ongoing outages related to the Division of Motor Vehicle’s software vendor that issues driver’s licenses, the Idaho Transportation Department is recommending sheriff’s offices close their doors while troubleshooting continues.

Please check with your local sheriff’s office.

ITD will be sharing more information at 1:30 p.m. on short and long-term solutions to these ongoing problems.

More information on ITD media availability will be shared at that time.

7:25 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 28

DMV transactions, vendor systems appear normal

DMV STATUS UPDATE – Normal transactions are resuming at county offices – licensing vendor systems appear to be working normally.

1 p.m. Monday, Aug. 27

Multi-state outage affects driver’s license system in Idaho

Driver’s License services are currently down across Idaho due to a multi-state outage by the vendor that provides driver’s license issuance through the Idaho Division of Motor Vehicles.

There is no current estimated time on when the system will be online. ITD apologizes for the inconvenience to our customers and county staff.

This outage is unrelated to the recent software upgrades ITD and county sheriff’s offices completed in early August.

ITD will provide updates throughout the day as we work with the vendor and county staff.

County DMV offices statewide to close Aug. 9-10 for system upgrades

Idaho’s computer system for issuing driver’s licenses and identification cards will upgrade this month from a 1980s mainframe to a more modern system.

To make this transition, all county sheriff’s DMV offices that issue driver’s licenses and identification cards, will be closed Thursday, Aug. 9 and Friday, Aug. 10.

County assessor’s offices will remain open to issue vehicle registrations and titles. Disability placards will not be available during the two-day closure.

County sheriff’s DMV offices will reopen on Monday, Aug. 13, however customers should anticipate delays while employees adjust to the new system.

“We are very pleased to move to a new system that is designed to provide enhanced security and increased customer service to citizens across Idaho,” said Idaho Transportation Department Division of Motor Vehicles Administrator Alberto Gonzalez.

The ITD DMV Headquarters office in Boise will also be closed to the public Aug. 9-10. The office assists the public through telephone calls and emails with driving records, driver’s license extensions and reinstatement fees.

“We are encouraging citizens needing to apply for or renew their driver’s license or identification card in August to do so before Aug. 9, or if possible wait until the week of Aug. 20,” Gonzalez said. “The DMV clerks will be trained in the new system, but there will likely be delays while they become more familiar with it.”

This is the second phase of a three-phase project to modernize the state’s DMV system. In 2017, the first phase was completed when permanent disability placards became available at the county assessor’s offices rather than at the DMV headquarters in Boise to better serve customers. The third phase will move vehicle registrations and title records from the mainframe computer next year.

DMV/Drivers Licensing service restored statewide

All DMV Services, Including drivers licensing, will be open at county offices throughout Idaho following yesterday’s software problems. Technicians worked late into the night to fix the issue and tested the solution to ensure it works.

The information of our customers was not at risk during the latest outages. The outage stemmed from software issues experienced by our vendor, Gemalto. The technical issues did not allow county DMV offices to process IDs or licenses, but motor-vehicle transactions such as registrations and titles continued unaffected.

In March, ITD, the Department of Administration, and Gemalto formulated a stabilization plan in response to extensive outages — 25 of them in 2017 and the first few months of 2018. The system has been much more stable since then. ITD still encourages anyone heading to the DMV to first visit the “DMV Status” link on our webpage.

“We appreciate the patience of our customers and our county representatives statewide as we worked diligently to fix the problem,” Alberto Gonzalez, Idaho DMV Administrator, said. “We will continue to work tirelessly to make the system as stable as possible.”

ITD, other community partners in saving lives honored at Donate Life event

Idaho has consistently been one of the top states in the nation when it comes to saying yes to saving lives. These achievements are due in large part to hard work and collaboration. An event celebrating these partnerships and commemorating these successes was held Thursday (April 12) at the Idaho Transportation Department’s Boise office.

Watch a short video of the event

At the event Thursday, the “Yes Idaho” Donate Life Coalition honored local community partners who have been an integral part of saving lives through organ donation. ITD has been crucial in the success of donation in Idaho during the last 20 years through organ donation notifications on drivers licenses.

Many of those partners spoke or were recognized at the event, where the group also unveiled the 2018 Threads of Life Quilt. The quilt was created with individual squares made by people with a personal connection to donation. Many squares honored a loved one who made the decision to donate or to celebrate the life of a transplant recipient.

Community partners recognized included:

The Idaho Transportation Department – Thanks to ITD’s help, the registry grew by 5.2% in 2017, to 64% of the population vs. 2016 census estimate. The national average is 54%. Idaho has 800,000 drivers who chose organ donation on their Idaho licenses.

Senator Lee Heider – Senator Heider has been at advocate for donation for several years. This year, he sponsored two bills related to this topic that became law.
S1249: This legislation instructs institutions of higher education to send a link to the Yes Idaho Donor Registry to their students twice each year.
S1250: Provides for a reminder email to be sent to state employees reminding them that the state of Idaho provides 30 days paid leave for any state employee donating a kidney.

Lillie Kaster — A donor mother who honored the memory of her son by educating the public about the importance of donation. She has reached out to rodeo royalty and recruited ambassadors for donation. They carry a “Yes Idaho” flag in parades while on horseback and speak at public events, sharing the message of donation.

KTVB Channel 7 – The media partner ran a series of stories last spring and four more last fall profiling people and their families touched by organ donation.

There are almost 300 people in Idaho currently waiting for a life-saving transplant. We are very grateful to our community partners for their dedication to saving the lives of those who are waiting. For more information about organ, eye and tissue donation, please log on to the “Yes Idaho” website.

ITD phishing scheme serves as a reminder to stay vigilant against outside cyber threats

In recent weeks, an Idaho Transportation Department Division of Motor Vehicles employee email account was compromised through an external phishing attempt.

In early January, ITD learned that an unauthorized individual used a phishing scheme to gain potential access to an employee’s email account. ITD secured the employee’s email account, reported the incident to law enforcement and the Department of Administration, and engaged a leading computer forensic firm to assist the agency.

In this incident, the attack came out of Nigeria and convinced an employee to give up their credentials.

The initial phase of the investigation determined the information of some customers could have been accessed by a third-party. Since that time, no abuse or theft had been reported. The investigation also determined that access was limited to a single employee email box and 89 customer’s potential information. ITD contacted potentially affected customers offering free credit monitoring.

This event is a good reminder that everyone is under constant threat whether at work or at home to this type of event. Think before you click and if you feel something isn’t right in the workplace, reach out to cyber security.

For more information, please contact ITD Communication Manager Vincent Trimboli at 208.334.8817.

New signs at Lewiston port signal big money and time savings

Drivers traveling in the Lewiston area in the last month may have noticed some new signs near the Port of Entry along US-95. The signs are the most visible indication of significant money and time savings for commercial drivers.

The new signs are part of an updated system designed to improve the mobility of freight in the area, save time on the road, safeguard taxpayer money and support economic opportunity in the region. Signs are now used to signal commercial rigs to bypass the port if the truck’s weight, height, length, safety rating and credentials are in adherence with the law.

Highway sensors verify the criteria above prior to trucks reaching the port so that flashing signs can alert drivers if they may continue or need to stop.

Recent improvements cost $750,000 but are expected to save much more.

The updated weigh-in-motion system is expected to allow up to 70 percent of commercial traffic heading out of the city and another 50 percent heading into the city to bypass the port just south of town.

Trucks that can bypass a port save an average of five minutes of time per incident and almost a half a gallon of fuel. This amounts to a savings of about $8.68 per bypass, according to an analysis of these systems by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Approximately 800 commercial trucks access the Lewiston area every day, meaning improvements at this port alone will save the trucking industry more than $900,000 this year.

Last year, commercial trucks using similar systems to bypass four Idaho ports saved the trucking industry $3.475 million.

“This technology saves our commercial drivers significant time and money, especially for local drivers who pass through the port three to four times on a normal day,” said Ron Morgan, the supervisor of the Lewiston ports.

Vehicles that bypass also benefit the state and other drivers by reducing congestion around weigh stations and enabling inspectors to focus their efforts on other carriers.

“The recent updates to the system reflect the department’s commitment to building a transportation system that supports economic opportunity and mobility in the area,” Morgan said.

ITD Office of Highway Safety launches SHIFT Idaho engaged-driving campaign

Whether it’s a drive around the block or a trip across the state, there is no shortage of distractions to take your mind off the road. To help Idahoans stay focused on the drive, ITD’s Office of Highway Safety is launching a new engaged-driving program called SHIFT.

The idea behind engaged driving is to create an opportunity for Idahoans to start thinking and talking about what’s appropriate behind the wheel and in the passenger’s seat. SHIFT is a program designed to help share techniques and strategies to reduce distractions and grow driver engagement.

“A distraction is anything that takes your mind away from the road,” said Highway Safety Manager John Tomlinson. “There are obvious distractions and others we may not even recognize – but we all know what it means to be engaged and we really want to highlight those behaviors.”

This approach is based on the concept of Positive Culture Framework, a system that promotes health and safety by building on shared values, beliefs and attitudes.

“Most people in Idaho are doing the right thing,” said Tomlinson. “SHIFT is our opportunity to grow those good behaviors and make our roads safer.”

Unlike traditional highway safety campaigns, SHIFT combines efforts to reach drivers directly through different media with workplace engagement. A pilot program is currently underway to develop a toolkit to help teach employers how to talk to their employees about engaged driving. The pilot sites will test different tools and review workplace distracted driving policies to see what can be done to impact driver behavior.

“We feel the right combination of policy, education and reinforcement at the workplace can help us move the needle,” Tomlinson said. “We really believe this layered approach will help us create safer roads and a safer Idaho.”
To learn more about the program, visit shift-idaho.org