# Do you ever go out without ID? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 11, 2020, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-go-out-without-id/847764 "2020-02-11T12:58:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-go-out-without-id/847764/121 "2020-02-14T15:40:28Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Which is useless for anyone who lives alone, or even anyone without a home phone. In Post #56, I suggested a [RoadID](https://www.roadid.com/) Ugh. I hate having something strapped to my wrist. I don’t wear a wristwatch or any other jewelry that would touch my skin. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-go-out-without-id/847764/122 "2020-02-14T15:40:56Z")
If I leave my property I take wallet with ID, keys, and cell with me. I have run out into the road without this when there’s been an accident down there and I think somebody needs help, but even then I’ll typically get my gear because I want the cell with me. But when I hike in parks in the summer, I generally don’t carry the big fat wallet. It will be hidden in my parked car. I will have the keys, and my cell, which can identify me with medical details for anybody even if they don’t have the information to unlock the whole phone. When I used to bike, I had a pet tag engraved with my ID and emergency contact info, and wore it on a stout cord about my neck. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-go-out-without-id/847764/123 "2020-02-14T15:49:58Z")
If I go for a walk in my neighborhood, I will often leave my wallet at home. ---
**Author:** ![EarlGrayHot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e480ec/32.png) [@EarlGrayHot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EarlGrayHot)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-go-out-without-id/847764/124 "2020-02-14T15:50:32Z")
I ALWAYS have my driver’s license with me when I drive because, you know, it’s the law here (Indiana/the U.S.). If your wallet falls out somehow most police officers will tell you to bring your correct ID to the police station to prove you have it. Otherwise, when you are doing anything other than driving, you are not required to have ID with you. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-go-out-without-id/847764/125 "2020-02-14T16:27:06Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Ugh. I hate having something strapped to my wrist. I don’t wear a wristwatch or any other jewelry that would touch my skin. Then get dog tags. Google images of damage to vehicles after striking a pedestrian. If you counting on your phone surviving that (if it happens to be on the side of impact) you’re nuts. The best way to have ID survive something catastrophic is have it firmly attached to you, noticeable, & engraved or embossed metal. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-go-out-without-id/847764/126 "2020-02-14T16:45:18Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Then get dog tags. Google images of damage to vehicles after striking a pedestrian. If you counting on your phone surviving that (if it happens to be on the side of impact) you’re nuts. The best way to have ID survive something catastrophic is have it firmly attached to you, noticeable, & engraved or embossed metal. I’ve got three cell phones and several other forms of identification in my pocket–business cards, driver’s license, employer’s ID card. Are they all likely to be destroyed in an accident? I don’t really want to wear identification on my body. How likely is it that everyone in the world needs that? ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-go-out-without-id/847764/127 "2020-02-14T17:50:49Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I’ve got three cell phones and several other forms of identification in my pocket–business cards, driver’s license, employer’s ID card. Are they all likely to be destroyed in an accident? > > I don’t really want to wear identification on my body. How likely is it that everyone in the world needs that? So maybe you don’t need one but a lot of people should have one. As I previously stated, anyone who lives alone should have one; does police a fat lotta good if they know your address but not how to get in touch with next of kin. How many of your neighbors or cow-orkers (other than by HR looking into the files) know how to get it touch with any relative that doesn’t live with you? However, since you asked, just for S&G let’s try this scenario - you’re in a ride share this evening, an accident causes that vehicle to go off a bridge where it becomes submerged in the river below. The water shorts out all three of your cell phones rendering them unusable. Your short [del]flight[/del] drop & subsequent impact dislodges your wallet. When the car is pulled from the water, the angle of extraction & the receding waters lodge is squarely under the middle of the front seat where it is missed by investigating officers on their first time thru the car. As luck would have it, you happened to have one of your business cards in your shirt pocket & your employee ID is still clipped to your belt; however, since it’s a holiday weekend there’s no one to contact until next Tuesday. You were relatively close to home; only 9 miles away but that happens to be the jurisdiction of the next town/county/state so when concerned relatives call the police in your town all the dots aren’t connected to the John Doe lying in the morgue right away. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-go-out-without-id/847764/128 "2020-02-14T18:34:48Z")
When I lived in the city, I would go out all the time with just a twenty in my pocket. I still do that when I’m out walking, just a lot less frequently, and I have my cell phone on me. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-go-out-without-id/847764/129 "2020-02-14T20:22:52Z")
I just came back from picking up my glasses. The tech asked me my last name, then brought a tray from the back and said “Are you \?” and I said yes. Then she gave me my glasses. Now the likelihood of someone trying to steal someone else’s prescription eyewear is probably close to nil, but still, these suckers cost several hundred (to my insurance, not me.) Of course, I have an honest face. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-go-out-without-id/847764/130 "2020-02-15T00:37:04Z")
I sort of do by accident, because my Freedom Pass has my name and photo on it and I keep it on me at all times so that I don’t forget it when I need it, but it’s not official ID, really. I don’t drive, and replacing a passport is expensive and inconvenient, so I don’t carry that around. > [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > there’s no such thing in the UK There is the [Validate UK card](https://www.validateuk.co.uk/), but I’ve never known anyone who has one and I suspect most people haven’t even heard of them. It’s a lot cheaper than a passport, but can’t be used for international travel, so most people just get a passport. I might actually get one when my passport expires. > [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](#): > > Is that just for citizens? I ask because I’m American and my son is attending university in the UK. As part of applying for his Tier 4 (student) visa, he had to get pictures and fingerprints taken at a US Homeland Security office which were transmitted to the UK and put on a Biometric Residency Permit (BRP), which he then had to pick up at a UK post office within 7 days of arrival. It’s a plastic ID card about the size of a credit card/driver license. He needs this to reenter the country legally. He also needed it at his GP to prove he was eligible to access National Health Services. He won’t need to carry his ID on him at all times, even as a non-citizen. > [@digs](#): > > For anyone who doesn’t take any ID with them, please start. Not for you, but for the healthcare workers who have to call someone and tell them you’re unconscious in the emergency room. We’re grateful our kid did after he was hit by a car. > > Since I’ve been hit a few times commuting by bike, the wife often yells “Have a nice ride! Gotcher ID?” The ID I have only has my name and age on, which wouldn’t be much more useful than my debit card, which I do always have with me. > [@Acsenray](#): > > The government doesn’t mandate photo ID. It’s just that you won’t be able to do a lot of things without it, such as write a check, sign up for membership at places, rent or borrow things, purchase alcohol or tobacco products, enter a bar, enter certain secured buildings, board an airplane, purchase prescribed or otherwise controlled medications, etc. I never write cheques - they’re really rare in the UK. Most people don’t even have chequebooks. Signing up for membership is not something that comes up often (I’ve done it once in person in the last few years - everything else is online), I’ve never needed ID to rent or borrow anything (I would if I were hiring a car - if I could drive - but for most people that’s an unusual circumstance too), we don’t need ID to enter a bar, I’m old enough to never get checked for ID when buying anything with an age restriction, and we don’t need ID to collect prescriptions, even for opioids. The only time I’ve needed ID to enter a building, it was specific work ID they needed with a chip that allows you to open doors and get through turnstiles, operate lifts, etc, not general ID. One other circumstance in the US where you might need ID is attending hospital appointments, and I have plenty of those, but they don’t ask for ID either. So needing ID rarely comes up. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-go-out-without-id/847764/131 "2020-02-15T02:10:50Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I’ve got three cell phones and several other forms of identification in my pocket–business cards, driver’s license, employer’s ID card. Are they all likely to be destroyed in an accident? > > I don’t really want to wear identification on my body. How likely is it that everyone in the world needs that? When I first saw this comment, I thought you were using the phone as ID. Do most people have a fingerprint lock or PIN on their phone? (I’m always confused by those Reddit stories. “I was going through my SO’s phone when I found evidence of an affair.” The only person who could go through my phone is a hacker.) > [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I just came back from picking up my glasses. The tech asked me my last name, then brought a tray from the back and said “Are you \?” and I said yes. Then she gave me my glasses. Now the likelihood of someone trying to steal someone else’s prescription eyewear is probably close to nil, but still, these suckers cost several hundred (to my insurance, not me.) > > Of course, I have an honest face. 😃 It’s the glasses. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-go-out-without-id/847764/132 "2020-02-15T02:46:32Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > So maybe you don’t need one but a lot of people should have one. As I previously stated, anyone who lives alone should have one; does police a fat lotta good if they know your address but not how to get in touch with next of kin. How many of your neighbors or cow-orkers (other than by HR looking into the files) know how to get it touch with any relative that doesn’t live with you? > > However, since you asked, just for S&G let’s try this scenario - you’re in a ride share this evening, an accident causes that vehicle to go off a bridge where it becomes submerged in the river below. The water shorts out all three of your cell phones rendering them unusable. Your short [del]flight[/del] drop & subsequent impact dislodges your wallet. When the car is pulled from the water, the angle of extraction & the receding waters lodge is squarely under the middle of the front seat where it is missed by investigating officers on their first time thru the car. As luck would have it, you happened to have one of your business cards in your shirt pocket & your employee ID is still clipped to your belt; however, since it’s a holiday weekend there’s no one to contact until next Tuesday. You were relatively close to home; only 9 miles away but that happens to be the jurisdiction of the next town/county/state so when concerned relatives call the police in your town all the dots aren’t connected to the John Doe lying in the morgue right away. Okay. Do you suppose this scenario is likely enough that it’s worth planning for? ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-go-out-without-id/847764/133 "2020-02-15T03:55:30Z")
When I go for a run, I don’t carry id. Basically I do any other time. Ms. P will go out without id occasionally. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-go-out-without-id/847764/134 "2020-02-15T17:55:38Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > It’s liberating to recognize the privilege and exercise it. You realize “privilege” means most people don’t have it as good as you do … right? If you live somewhere so safe, so lacking in crime, that you never lock your doors at all, then that is DEEPLY privileged. Goody gumdrops for you and all, but you sound all high & mighty instead of grateful, like we plebians carrying around keys and ID just haven’t thought of any better options and are too stupid to imagine one. Re-read the early post towards the start of this thread, about being large, black, and male while living in America & the subsequent need to carry ID just to take out the trash. Be humble & grateful for your privileges, instead of rubbing people’s noses in them. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-go-out-without-id/847764/135 "2020-02-15T22:44:32Z")
Almost never, but once in awhile I might not have it on me if I’m walking the dog or going out for a local hike. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-go-out-without-id/847764/136 "2020-02-16T00:37:17Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Okay. Do you suppose this scenario is likely enough that it’s worth planning for? I wouldn’t exactly call it a everyday occurrence but it’s hardly unheard of around here either. It depends if you want your relatives to know you’re in the hospital or morgue right away or in a few days? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-go-out-without-id/847764/137 "2020-02-16T02:25:40Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > I wouldn’t exactly call it a everyday occurrence but it’s hardly unheard of around here either. It depends if you want your relatives to know you’re in the hospital or morgue right away or in a few days? It matters to me how likely this scenario is. I’m not willing to take the trouble to prepare for a situation that is extremely unlikely to inconvenience my surviving relatives. In the extremely unlikely circumstance that I find myself being dead in this manner, I can live with my relatives having to worry over my fate for a couple of days. They’ll have quite a story to tell afterwards. It makes sense that we mandate the wearing of dog tags for folk we are sending into battle. Generally speaking, the rest of us don’t wake up every morning in a war zone. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-go-out-without-id/847764/138 "2020-02-16T20:07:09Z")
Outside of a few narrow circumstances like at the beach/pool or camping, I always have ID and currency on me when away from home. And even then, those items are nearby in the car or hotel room or whatever. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-go-out-without-id/847764.md?page=6)