RALEIGH, N.C. -- Driver's licenses for North Carolina residents under the age of 21 got a makeover Wednesday, as the state began issuing vertically formatted cards designed to help clerks easily identify which customers are underage.
State officials and lawmakers pushed for the change as a way to further hinder young adults' ability to illegally buy alcohol and tobacco products. A state study showed that some residents were able to purchase the age-restricted products even after presenting store clerks with identification that showed they were underage.
"With the vertical licenses, it becomes immediately apparent to a store owner, to a bartender, to someone who will be selling beer or alcohol, that this is an underage driver," Division of Motor Vehicles Commissioner William Gore said.
That will help cut down on underage drinking and driving, backers said, pointing to statistics which show most new drivers are in at least one accident during their first three years on the road.
"All we really want out of this bill is for teenagers to become adults," said Rep. Dale Folwell, R-Forsyth, who was one of the primary sponsors of the legislation.
North Carolina follows in the footsteps of more than 20 other states which have redesigned their state-issued cards for under-21 drivers.
Winston-Salem resident Olivia Mitchell, 16, was among the first residents to get a vertical license at a DMV facility in Raleigh Wednesday. Mitchell said she thinks the new licenses will be effective in limiting some underage residents from buying alcohol.
"Obviously, if people want alcohol, they're going to find a way to get it anyway," said Mitchell, holding her new license that was inspected by a bevy of reporters. "But I just think it's a quicker, simpler way for the shop-owners to identify how old you are."
Drivers under 21 who already hold horizontal licenses don't need to get a new one. And, like the horizontal ones, the vertical licenses don't expire when they reach the legal drinking age, although they can choose to get a new license if they want.
Officials originally estimated the layout change would have cost the state $50,000 in new computer software and equipment. But Visage, the company which sells the state its license materials, gave the state the needed supplies free of charge, Gore said.
