DMV issues "horseless carriage' titles

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From: "Chuck Rienzo"

Mesage received (and answer): > >Don't anyone "skin" me for reporting this without proof but...my wife >called from work at noon and said she heard (on the radio, I presume) that >the Dept. of Motor Vehicles offices here (Arkansas) are receiving a bunch >of "antique" license plates instead of the regular ones they need. You >know, circa 1900... >If this turns out to be a mistake or joke or some such I'll inform the >"crew" but it certainly sounds possible. Probably one of those >not-so-critical programs they haven't gotten around to fixing.

MY RESPONSE API dateline- Portland Maine as reported in Cleveland Plain Dealer October 13,1999 State govt got its first Y2k months early when owners of 2000 model cars and trucks received titles identifying their new vehicles as "horseless carriages." story goes on to state that the state computer automatically issues vehicles with a model year before 1916 a "horseless carriage" designation. About 800 passenger car titles and about 1200 tractor trailer titles were issued before the error was caught and commented that "since few people pay cash, most of the titles went directly to banks and institutions." I don't know if this is the origin of the radio story- but I can imagine it happening in state after state as the same program might be used by different agencies.... Chuck's wife (Tari)

-- Chuck's wife 'lurker in chief' (rienzoo@en.com), October 13, 1999

Answers

The Portland Maine story was on our local news...with this addition: the glitch was in the printing program which they hadn't tested.

-- Shelia (Shelia@active-stream.com), October 13, 1999.

horse 'n buggy -- still making ppl laugh -- something will happen that won't be funny, and ppl may start to think. But until then, Y2K is one big joke to the general public, snort snickle giggle jeer

Hi Tari!

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), October 13, 1999.


Hi Tari!

(((Wave)))

Diane

See thread... (several have been posted)...

Maine DMV licenses "horseless carriages."

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id= 001Z7n



-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), October 13, 1999.


This is how the Electronic Telegraph saw it:

Millennium bug hits the road

HORSELESS carriages have returned to the American state of Maine after a millennium bug computer glitch mistakenly classified about 2,000 new cars and lorries as early 20th-century vehicles. Despite spending millions of dollars to prepare its systems to recognise the advent of the 21st century, the state's computers were unable to make the leap out of this century and issued registration documents dated Jan 1, 1900.

Dan Gwadosky, responsible for vehicle registration, said the error was compounded because the computer automatically designates any pre-1916 vehicle as a horseless carriage. In most cases the documents went to banks and loan companies as the cars and lorries are not due to be collected until the new year. Robert Uhlig, Technology Correspondent

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), October 13, 1999.


Made the news in Australia too.

RonD

-- Ron Davis (rdavis@ozemail.com.au), October 14, 1999.



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