Source: Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
Floridians can give their driver’s licenses a makeover starting as early as next month. Last week, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) debuted the new design for state driver’s licenses and identifications cards.
The new design comes equipped with new security measures that are intended to limit the production of fake driver’s licenses.
With almost double the security protection against fraud, new Florida licenses and IDs will include distinctive head font colors that will make it easier to identify what kind of license a person has. The color code distinctions are as follows:
- Green font represents a standard driver’s license.
- Blue font represents a commercial driver’s license (CDL).
- Red font represents identification cards.
- Orange font represents a learner’s permit.
New Florida driver’s licenses will also include a light blue rendering of the Florida state seal and the letter’s “FL” in the front background. The year 1845 will be displayed on the back of each card to represent the year in which Florida became the 27th state in the nation. Headshots will also appear in four different locations on the ID, in comparison to the normal two on the prior design.
The newly designed card will be “the most secure over-the-counter credential on the market today,” according to the FLHSMV.
“It’s not quite as out-of-the-blue as some people think,” said Alexis Bakofsky, deputy communications director for the FLHSMV.
The efforts to update the current look of Florida IDs began in 2014 when stakeholders, such as law enforcement agencies, supervisors of elections and tax collectors, came together to discuss possible improvements that could be made.
Bakofsky explained that the decision was primarily influenced by the desire to make the credentials “more secure” in order to comply with the new, advanced technology that has emerged since the last changes were made to FL IDs in 2003.
Other changes being made to the card include the addition of motorcycle endorsements and a clear sign that indicates the cardholder’s potential sexual predator or sexual offender status.
Florida residents will start being issued the new card beginning on August 21, according to the official FLHSMV website. Offices in Volusia, Okaloosa, Leon, Duval, Brevard, Manatee, Lee and Broward counties have been announced as some of the first to carry the credentials.
Costs of the new IDs will vary, depending on whether or not residents choose to add certain designations. For example, designations such as “lifetime boating,” “hunting license,” and “military veteran” will cost $1 each.
In any case, residents will not be required to replace their current Florida license or identification card as long as it is not expired and all of the information displayed is correct.
All DMV offices throughout the state are expected to offer the new cards before the year is up.