The Texas Department of Public Safety has plans to change the way Texans renew and change address information on their driver licenses. In fact, the licenses will have a complete makeover. According to KHOU, all changes will have to be made in person, which will cause an increase in the already-packed Motor Vehicle locations.
Don't rush to make changes now, though - beginning in 2008, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles will require everyone with a license to get a new one -expired or not- to comply with the Real ID bandwagon on which Texas is jumping. Those who do not comply will not have valid identification any longer, which would prevent air travel and legal driving.
"In the future, we'll have to reprocess all your credentials. We're anticipating the time will quadruple," said Brown."The standing in line part is going to be difficult but I think as long as we have security, we can't have enough security," said Sheryl Young, a Texas driver.
Whether you think it's worth it, doesn't really matter. Not only do you need the license to drive -- you won't be able to get on an airplane without the Real ID.
The Department of Homeland Security will decide what will be stored on the ID cards, but it will have at least your name, date of birth, sex, photograph, and address. Sounds pretty simple, so far, but most of us will probably never know what is actually stored on it or who is retrieving the information. The Real ID Act was tailgated on an emergency military spending bill in 2005.
More information on the Real ID:
- Electronic Privacy Information Center: Real ID
- Wikipedia: Real ID
- New York Times: Real ID's, Real Danger
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