ALBANY
Forget about trying to chalk these licenses.
You are viewing: Why Is My Driver License Vertical
New York this month began issuing new driver’s licenses that have more than 30 new security features, making them nearly impossible to fake.
And for drivers under 21, the new licenses are vertical rather than horizontal. That gives bouncers, bartenders and clerks an easier time identifying who is younger than 18 or 21 for sales of tobacco and alcohol.
“They are the most secure document of its type in the country,” said Jackie McGinnis, a spokeswoman for the state Department Motor Vehicles.
The new licenses will be introduced over the next eight years as drivers’ current licenses expire or when new drivers get them. The licenses are laser engraved with a “grayscale” appearance, with the photos essentially black and white.
By late September, all DMV offices will be stocked with the new licenses. Four offices are already issuing them: Albany, Poughkeepsie, North Syracuse and Schenectady. They should be available by mail in October.
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The price is not increasing. Prices for a new license or a renewal start at about $64. Drivers are required to get their license renewed every eight years in New York.
Bars and convenience stores are pleased with the changes. They said the new licenses will make it easier to check who is older than 18 or 21.
The changes include noting if someone is under 21, but also lists the date when someone will turn 18 or 21 – making it quicker for ID checkers to determine if the licensee is of age.
“We’re very pleased with the vertical format and the dates that the person turns 18 and 21 as an additional tool for preventing underage sales,” said James Calvin, president of the state Association of Convenience Stores.
Scott Wexler, executive director of the Empire State Restaurant and Tavern Association, said the new licenses will give bars and restaurants more tools to crack down on underage drinking. He said it will still be the place’s responsibility, though, to enforce the law.
One of the major problems with underage drinking is youth using licenses of people who look like them who are older than 21, Wexler said.
“It will help alcohol beverage servers who are interested in complying with the law. It’s a better document. It is going to harder to alter,” Wexler said. “It’s still incumbent upon the sellers to do their jobs.”
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The new licenses were not without controversy. The Associated Press reported last November that the the $88.5 million contract for the licenses went to a Canadian company that bid $38 million more than the second-highest bidder.
And the Association of Convenience Stores questioned at the time whether it would be more difficult to identify someone because the photos are in black and white.
The Cuomo administration defended the cost and the new design, saying they are complying with federal homeland security efforts to make licenses more secure. Among the licenses available in New York is the enhanced driver’s license, which can be used for travel to Canada, Mexico and some parts of the Caribbean.
On its website, the DMV explained the purpose of the new printing.
“A laser engraved image is virtually tamper resistant and vastly increases the overall security of the license,” the department said.
For more information about the new licenses, visit www.dmv.ny.gov/lic-docfaq.htm.
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Category: WHY
