High-security driver’s license system coming to DMV

Despite early glitch, system a go for early November

Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008 | 7:36 a.m.

Front of the new Nevada driver's license.

Back of the new Nevada driver's license.

Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles

A minor glitch in the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicle's new high-security system for issuing driver's licenses shouldn't impact the system's planned rollout next month, officials said.

The new system still requires drivers to apply in person at a DMV office and have their picture taken, but changes after that. Instead of receiving a license on the spot within minutes, the new licenses will be manufactured at a central plant in Lacey, Wash., and mailed to drivers within seven to 10 days.

The central issuance system, which debuted Oct. 17 in Carson City, encountered problems on its first day when the information and photos taken for that day's licenses failed to transmit to the plant in Washington.

"The system didn't recognize them," DMV spokesman Kevin Malone said. "Nothing is lost; we have all of the applications and the photos on the computers still. It's just a matter of figuring out the bug that prevented them from transmitting and fixing it."

Malone said the glitch was believed to be simple and likely would not take more than a day or two to fix. He said the new system is still planned to launch at DMV offices in Las Vegas and Henderson on Nov. 6 and 7.

The new central issuance system will incorporate technology such as laser perforations and ghost images to make Nevada licenses among the most secure in the nation.

"The card itself — it's much harder to try to counterfeit," Malone said. "Once you see one of these things, you'll see what we're talking about … It's not like any card you've ever seen."

The new licenses will not require drivers to make an extra trip to the DMV; existing licenses will remain valid until the expiration date printed on them.

The security features being added to the new licenses will increase their cost by 75 cents each, from $21.25 to $22 for drivers younger than 65 and from $16.25 to $17 for drivers 65 and older.

Jeremy Twitchell can be reached at 990-8928 or jeremy.twitchell@hbcpub.com.

Discussion: 6 comments so far…

By KDR81

10/22/08 at 8:26 a.m.

Suggest removal

Yay, longer wait times, but hopefully when the glitches are worked out, I will get my license on the 5th visit!

Maybe things will improve afterall -_-
By azsk8fan

10/22/08 at 8:39 a.m.

Suggest removal

Let's waste more money on postage.........if the applicant has proven that they are who they say they are - thru birth certificate - marriage license etc. then why not produce the DL on site and get it over with.......just another waste of taxpayers money.
By neiman1

10/22/08 at 8:53 a.m.

Suggest removal

What will it matter. Obama endorsed New Yorks plan to give licenses to illegal immigrants. There will be no way to stop the Mexican Mafia from more kidnappings. San Diego has 24 so far this year and El Paso has had 60. They are moving North and taking direct control of their "business".
By StanG

10/22/08 at 3:24 p.m.

Suggest removal

A California resident can avoid the DMV by getting his drivers license and auto registration renewed at a nearby AAA office.
If he needs to appear at the DMV, he can make an appointment ahead of time and avoid lines.
There's no good reason, other than preservation of a bureaucracy, for Nevada to do likewise, except perhaps the loss of work for the cottage industry that will wait in line for you, for about $25 a pop. I wonder whose palms they grease.
By cj72

11/3/08 at 9:48 p.m.

Suggest removal

I find it a bit amusing and highly irritating that NV does not accept a US citizen's drivers' license from another US state as proof of identity but they accept various alien proofs of identity. Did Nevada secede from the union but not tell anyone? Its even easier to get a passport than get a Nevada drivers license. Yet you can register to vote in Nevada without any proof of identity. Then when I voted, they said they checked with the DMV to verify my identity. Well, we know that isn't true because I haven't managed to gather all the proof needed for a NV driver license yet.
By johnevegas

11/4/08 at 4:12 a.m.

Suggest removal

neiman "There will be no way to stop the Mexican Mafia from more kidnappings."

What about your big scary wall? I would be willing to support pictures of Dubya on it to help scare the Mexicans away and so they can remember who hates them.

Here's an idea neiman. You know what really scares Mexicans? The Waffle House! What if we build Waffle Houses along the border and...