North Carolina’s new driver’s license

As of October 1, 2008, if you are under 21 years old your new driver’s license will look very different.

The North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles introduced a new vertical license for drivers age 21 and younger. The license has color coded bars that highlight the driver’s 18th and 21st birthdays.

The change is to help protect both young people and retailers.

Dale Rankin, Wilmington DMV examiner said, “It makes sure that people under the age of 18 aren’t smoking early and it also keeps people under the age of 21 from drinking alcohol. It also helps protect the clerks, because they get in some serious trouble if they sell these products to underage individuals.”

Several other states have already been using the new vertically shaped license, North Carolina is not the first.