Colorful high-tech driver’s licenses and state identification cards, designed for added security and to cut down on fake IDs, will start rolling out across Florida this month.
But unless it’s time to update a card because of an expiration date or a name or address change, there’s no need to rush out for a new ID.
In the works since 2014, the new design will become available Aug. 21 at a driver’s license office in Volusia County’s Orange City.
A week later, offices in Okaloosa, Leon, Duval, Brevard, Manatee, Lee and Broward counties will start issuing the new licenses.
The new licenses become available in Flagler starting on Oct. 23 at the Tax Collector’s office’s Flagler Beach branch (2525 Moody Boulevard), then on Nov. 3 at the collector’s Government Services Building office, and on Nov. 6 at the Staples shopping center branch in Palm Coast, off Old Kings Road.
“We are in the middle of reaching out to all of our stakeholders, and letting them know how to identify the new card, this is what it looks like, these are some of the security features you can look for,” said Alexis Bakofsky, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. “Starting January 1, 2018, it will be the only credential that is issued in Florida.”
Intended in part to crack down on fake licenses, the state agency expects to spend $460,000 to complete the statewide rollout. The money comes from the state’s Highway Safety Operating Trust Fund.
The agency did not provide information on how much it has spent on the redesign.
The card features nearly double the number of security features as the current card, Bakofsky said.
“Some you’ll see. Some you will not see,” Bakofsky said. “That is to maintain security so that a law enforcement officer, or anyone who needs to authenticate that credential, can safely do so.”
Each card will have better safeguards, from features that appear only when viewed under ultraviolet light to a pastel-colored linear rendering of the Florida state seal and a large orange “FL.”
A head shot of the person who has been issued the card will appear in four locations, including one that is a part of a transparent background.
A red box will be affixed to the front for people under 21, stating when the cardholder will reach that age.
The back features an image of the state of Florida, the year 1845 in reference to the year of Florida’s statehood and the word “Florida” amid blue lines representing ocean waves.
The information on the card will also be linked through two barcodes and a magnetic stripe on the back.
The state is working on a new feature to replace the magnetic stripe in 2019.
–Jim Turner, News-Service of Florida
woodchuck says
fraud?There more people driving w/out a license then with a fraudulent one.
Don't you just love the sunshine state lol says
What is this? Whatever has to be done. Must be a lot of forged ID’s out there for them to go to this extreme🤔
Pogo says
@FL Readers
“…The agency did not provide information on how much it has spent on the redesign…”
It was once common place and usual for the cost of things to be published, e.g., Florida forms and publications included statements such as this form or publication was produced at the cost of – and a dollar amount. Starting with Jeb, and continuing to today, that has gone away. As Republicans have privatized everything they get their claws on, and fed it to friends and patrons, they have systematically reduced transparency whenever they are able.
Follow the money and ask who pays for the band: who chooses the band, who chooses the music, and who personally benefits. I guarantee it ain’t the rest of us.
Joe Kenda says
woodchuck, you are correct!!
Instigator says
Great move to make sure the ballot box is not packed with the dead and the nonexistent.
joe says
No ballot box is “packed with the dead and the non-existent” – NONE. This is a proven and documented fact, with numerous studies showing the falsity of this claim. Only to those in the Fox News/Limbaugh bubble is this canard still believed.
Sherry says
Those who live their “fear filled” lives obsessed with “conspiracy theories” . . . ignoring actual facts. . . are completely pathetic!
There have been multiple investigations which have PROVEN there is NO significant voter fraud! Spending millions upon millions of “our” hard earned taxes on chasing “them”. . . the FAKE CRIMINALS. . . is “criminal” in itself ! This is just another form of voter suppression!
Meanwhile. . . just how much has been spent on safeguarding our voting systems to keep them from being “hacked” by RUSSIANS or others in the future???? Where is the story on that???
VOTE this current horrific legislature, and governor OUT!