Driver's licenses receive makeover

by Ann Hoang

The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is now issuing newly designed driver's license and identification (ID) cards for all of those who apply after September 30. The new changes are intended to protect the documents against fraud, tampering and counterfeiting.

The most significant change is most noticeable for people younger than 21. These cards will have a vertical layout instead of the usual horizontal. This will make it easier to distinguish between those under and over 21. The new ID cards also feature a raised signature that can be felt by touch, a 2D barcode that verifies information on the front of the card, images that can only be seen with the use of ultraviolet lights, and an outline of the California Brown Bear.

“The new security features, coupled with advanced technology, make California driver's licenses and identification cards one of the most secure identification documents in the country," DMV Director George Valverde said, according to the California DMV website (http://www.dmv.ca.gov.)

Because the DMV issues 8.25 million cards a year, security is of the utmost importance in the design of the cards. The cards will be more difficult to counterfeit or replicate with its UV images and the perforated outline of the California Brown Bear.

“I don’t think it’s completely fool proof. I think there will be a way to exploit it later on,” Senior Michael Li said. “But if that’s the case, the cost for fake IDs is going to rise.”

Li believes that this will not stop fake IDs and does not like the new design. The new version is much more complicated, but it only adds two more pictures of the card holder, according to Li.

There is not a hurry to apply for a new license or ID card. Those who have an existing ID or driver's license may keep their current card until the card expires. The DMV will then issue a new card upon renewal.

The new cards will cost slightly more to make than the old cards, at about $1.38 cents to produce, as opposed to 75 cents for the older version. “[The new version] is stupid and a waste of money,” Sophomore Jewel Lazo said. “It might stop fake IDs, but it’s pretty pointless.”