I’ve read a bunch of stories on sites like Not Always Right where a store clerk will ask for ID and the customer claims not to have any. These aren’t necessarily underage kids trying to buy beer - some are adults who apparently don’t carry ID with them.
I don’t go anywhere without my purse, especially when driving, so I have my wallet and my license with me. Even on vacation in situations where I’m neither driving nor planning to buy alcohol, I’ll make sure my license is in my pocket - how else will the police identify my body?? :eek: But seriously, it seems a simple, common-sense thing to have a form of identification on your person, just in case.
Some people get really angry about government control or are terrified of identity theft.
I always have a piece of ID on me for identification purposes, but it’s not a legal requirement to carry it. In practice, almost everybody carries ID, even if it’s only for other purposes. You can’t drive without a drivers’ license, and even your bank cards are a form of “soft” ID. Going without ID is so unusual that the police consider if suspicious.
Frequently. Not out of any sort of devil-may-care attitude, but more because I don’t think about it. I walk the dog every day, and only occasionally have my phone on me, and almost never any other ID on those occasions.
I’ll often go down the shops with just a debit card in my pocket.
It’s not a legal requirement to carry ID in the UK, even when driving a car.
I actually have dogtags on, most days.
I have medic alert info that needs to be clear if I have a problem.
I usually have my drivers lisc…even if I’m not driving, as well.
I pretty much always have ID on me, other than when I’m walking the dogs in our woods and adjacent areas. That said, if I’m walking down the street and a police officer stopped me and asked for ID, I’d deny having any, even if it was in my pocket.
If I have my purse with me, I have my ID. And I can’t think of anyplace I go without my purse. Maybe downstairs to my apartment building’s laundry room in the basement across the yard, but nowhere else.
Never. I even put my wallet in my robe when backing a car out of the driveway. In the mornings I’m often asked to move a the car to let someone out. I’m only backing into the street for a minute, and then returning up the drive to repark, but I never leave my property without ID.
My driving license lives in my wallet, so I usually have it. No-one’s asked to see it in years though.
Usually by the time you look 25 few places will ask for ID when you’re buying alcohol, and that’s tougher than it used to be; I’m in my 30s, I’ve only ever been IDed in the UK maybe 3 times, and I started going to pubs at 16. Aside from buying booze, you may well never need to show one unless you want to get on a plane or get stopped by police while driving and they ask to see it, in which case you have 7 days to take it to a police station (our car registration system is all joined up, if you don’t show up, they know who legally owns the car). One of my former housemates - a similar age to me - doesn’t own any photo ID; he doesn’t drive or have a passport and he’s simply never bothered getting any.
Normally I carry my photocard driving licence in my wallet, but I seem to have mislaid it at the moment, so I have to make a special effort to remember my passport if I’ll be needing photo ID.
In the UK, as SanVito has said, it’s not legally required to carry ID even when driving, but if pulled over by police and you cannot produce proof of licence and insurance, they may ask you to do so at a police station in the next 7 days. I had this happen many years ago and it wasn’t a problem - these days everything should be on electronic databases that they can check in a few minutes at the roadside, so I don’t know if it’s used much now.
I’m not paranoid or worried about ID theft, just generally have no need for ID in my everyday life. I did nearly need it just after Christmas when a landlady in a virtually empty village pub asked me if I had ID. I said (completely truthfully, and surprised) “No, I’m 34”. She said “Oh, that’s alright then - if you were from Trading Standards checking up on me, you wouldn’t be allowed to lie.”. I’m pretty sure a) that’s not true and b) she was on something. I’m not particularly youthful-looking, the youngest I could pass for is probably about 25 if that. So the whole episode was rather amusing. If she had been doing her job properly, I simply would have had a soft drink instead.
Tenn. was one of the last states to put pictures on your DL. One woman refused saying her religion banned photos. Called it a graven image. I don’t recall what they did about her.
Lying to the police rarely leads to good outcomes. If you don’t want to show your ID, you’re within your rights to refuse to do so, although you may be legally required to identify yourself by other means.
AIUI, in most/all states, you’re required to present a valid driver’s license if you’re stopped while operating a motor vehicle. US citizens in other circumstances (e.g. passengers in a car, or pedestrians anywhere else) may be legally required to identify themselves to a police officer upon request, but they’re not required to present government-issued identification documents for that purpose. Adult permanent residents in the US are required to carry their green card with them at all times.
I can’t find a solid answer on whether foreign tourists in the US (or foreign people here on student/work visas) are required to have their passports with them at all times.
I’m a US citizen, but if I go out without ID it’s because I forgot it.
I have a wallet-style phone case. The joke when I got it was, “Now I can lose all of my stuff at once!” Which is still true, but it also means if I have my phone, I have all of my stuff, including my money and ID. My phone is quite large and the wallet case makes it even larger, and I specifically bought a case that’s a nice aqua color that’s easy to spot on the floor (where a black case might not be), so losing it is fairly difficult.
I always have my wallet (with my ID in it) in my pocket and it only comes out of my pocket when I get ready for bed at night.
When I go outside I always grab my car keys as well. I’m always afraid I’m going to do something stupid like lock myself out (which would be bad as I live alone).
As an aside, I have street parking with odd/even parking rules. I always put on my seat belt even if just moving my car to the other side of the street.
I’m a legal alien and am required to carry my Alien Registration Card with me. I occasionally don’t, for example if I’m running by the river, but I don’t live within walking distance of anywhere so 99% plus of the time, I have my ID with me.
Another UK resident here, the only time I carry ID is to get into to the local art museum (on locals get in free day). It’s bit weird showing a driving licence to an art show attendant, but maybe a bit less OTT than taking a passport.
About being pulled over driving, do the Old Bill even give you a “producer” any more, now they can check your tax and insurance there and then?
If I’m leaving the house, even walking or just driving my kid to school in the morning while I’m wearing pajamas and snow boots (because they’re faster to put on than my shoes), I always grab at least my driver’s license and insurance card.
Sure, the likelihood of needing them in the 10 minutes that I’m gone is near zero, if something happens I do have them. I always think of the worse case scenario being that I get hit by a car or somehow otherwise end up unconscious, at least there’s a fast way for people to figure out who I am.
