# Is your driver's license accurate for height/weight? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 21, 2007, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-drivers-license-accurate-for-height-weight/419986 "2007-09-21T14:14:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-drivers-license-accurate-for-height-weight/419986/21 "2007-09-21T18:44:58Z")
My height is correct at 6-2. I weigh about 25 pounds less now than the current license says I do. Four states and sixteen years after I got my first drivers license, and the numbers on that first one would be accurate right now. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-drivers-license-accurate-for-height-weight/419986/22 "2007-09-21T19:04:20Z")
Height is accurate, but I now weigh about 220 pounds. When I got my current license, I had just come to college and weighed in the 270-275 range, so that’s not accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Point\_No\_Point](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@Point\_No\_Point](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Point_No_Point)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-drivers-license-accurate-for-height-weight/419986/23 "2007-09-21T19:28:25Z")
The DMV lady didn’t think so, or so she let on. DMV Lady: “Height?” me: “Six feet” “No, really?” “Yes” “Are you sure you want to stick with that?” me: “Well, bring out a tape measure and see for yourself. How are judging anyway? You’re sitting down and there’s no ruler on the wall.” “Well, the boss says most men lie” “Tell your boss she’s making a sexist fool of you.” “I’ll do that… Weight?” ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-drivers-license-accurate-for-height-weight/419986/24 "2007-09-21T19:31:47Z")
Oh my. Just looked at mine. Ooogh. Several years ago, I lost quite a bit of weight but knew I would gain some back. So I actually put down then a weight _greater_ than my current weight. Since then, the state does renewals my mail/online so nothing’s changed (even the picture is quite out of date). Now it’s 15lbs too low. Ooogh again. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-drivers-license-accurate-for-height-weight/419986/25 "2007-09-21T19:52:05Z")
It says 5’10", 300 pounds, grey eyes. Reality is 5’9.something", ~310 pounds, grey/green/blue eyes. The last time I renewed it, weight changed from 183 to 300 and the guy was noncommital. That was nice. ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-drivers-license-accurate-for-height-weight/419986/26 "2007-09-21T20:33:20Z")
I lied and gave myself an inch of height. I weigh about 8 pounds less than the weight listed. ---
**Author:** ![Flipshod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f19dbf/32.png) [@Flipshod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flipshod)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-drivers-license-accurate-for-height-weight/419986/27 "2007-09-21T20:48:50Z")
My weight is under-reported by about 40 pounds. When I got my license and was checking it for errors, I pointed this out to the person who asked me to read over it for errors before I left. She told me not to worry about it and just change it next time I re-newed. So, I guess the weight on the DL is meaningless–either that or the cop is going to think I’m a vain man with little sense of self-consciousness.😉 ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-drivers-license-accurate-for-height-weight/419986/28 "2007-09-21T20:55:33Z")
My height is correct, but my weight is wrong. It says I weigh 150 (which I did when I got the license), but now I weigh 133. ETA: this is the first license I’ve had that actually has my weight on it. In NH, at least the last time I had to renew there, they did not require weight to be listed on the license. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-drivers-license-accurate-for-height-weight/419986/29 "2007-09-21T21:54:37Z")
Untill I moved out of state and back my MA license had my hieght at 5’4" which was my height when I first got my license. They wouldn’t update the hieght for renewals at which point I was 6’1" Since I got my MA licence again a year ago it is correct plus or minus a few pounds. ---
**Author:** ![Fearless\_Leader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@Fearless\_Leader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fearless_Leader)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-drivers-license-accurate-for-height-weight/419986/30 "2007-09-21T22:04:26Z")
My height is correct - 5’0 - but my weight is a little off. It actually was correct when I was getting my license but I’ve gained a tad since then. Still, I wouldn’t want my current weight on there and hopefully I’ll drop those extra couple soon - every pound is noticible on a short girl! ---
**Author:** ![StuffLikeThatThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@StuffLikeThatThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StuffLikeThatThere)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-drivers-license-accurate-for-height-weight/419986/31 "2007-09-21T22:51:12Z")
My height is correct. If I ever again get to the weight that’s listed, I’ll throw a huge party, and all of you can come. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2007, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-drivers-license-accurate-for-height-weight/419986/32 "2007-09-22T00:29:57Z")
My height is wrong, but that’s their fault. I told them 5’4 1/2" and they just gave me a Look and put in 5’5". My weight is way off. It says 150. It may be 150 again, but not soon. ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2007, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-drivers-license-accurate-for-height-weight/419986/33 "2007-09-22T00:49:57Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] Does anyone else’s state use a name in the license number, and have people been confused by it? [/QUOTE] Montana’s did a few years ago. It used to be your social security number, but when people started objecting to that, they briefly switched to something like last the digits of birth year, first 3 letters of given name, some more random numbers and a letter or two. Then they switched to 13 possibly random, possibly not, numbers. The number-letter-number thing infuriated computers and confused customer service reps dealing with those computers. The new one has inspired several “I didn’t know there were enough people THERE to need this many numbers!” type comments. Height is accurate, weight is within 5 pounds this week. Hair color isn’t even close this week. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2007, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-drivers-license-accurate-for-height-weight/419986/34 "2007-09-22T01:06:53Z")
My height is off by about a half-inch. ---
**Author:** ![Monster104](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Monster104](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monster104)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2007, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-drivers-license-accurate-for-height-weight/419986/35 "2007-09-22T01:47:02Z")
My height is off by about half an inch. It says 6’3", which is how tall I am when I wake up in the morning, but by evening I’m down to closer to 6’2". 🙂 My weight is off, though, since I weighed 185-190 when I got the license (now I’m 215ish). Heck, my picture isn’t even accurate anymore, since I still use my original picture. When I get a new license I’ll get a new picture but I’m going to keep the weight the same - it’s my target weight loss goal. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2007, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-drivers-license-accurate-for-height-weight/419986/36 "2007-09-22T02:51:28Z")
My driver’s licence doesn’t include details of either weight or height. ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2007, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-drivers-license-accurate-for-height-weight/419986/37 "2007-09-22T03:13:28Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] May I hijack? Does anyone else’s state use a name in the license number, and have people been confused by it? [/QUOTE] UK licences work this way. The number is the first five letters of your surname, followed by 6 numbers which are your 6-digit DOB, scrambled (my DOB, for example, is 14th May 72, on my licence this is 705142) and then 5 apparently random characters to ensure that each number is unique. Of course, all UK licences are like this, so no-one gets confused about it. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2007, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-drivers-license-accurate-for-height-weight/419986/38 "2007-09-22T03:40:06Z")
I’ve gained about 150 lbs. since my initial driver’s license. Why is weight even on the damn thing if you can lie like a dog? Mine’s …um… more accurate now but probably not exactly my current weight. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2007, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-drivers-license-accurate-for-height-weight/419986/39 "2007-09-22T08:15:28Z")
I’ve only had a driver’s license in two places (Pennsylvania and Norway) but neither one of them has ever listed my height or weight. Therefore they have always been 100% accurate! ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2007, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-drivers-license-accurate-for-height-weight/419986/40 "2007-09-22T12:41:35Z")
My height is accurate, but the last time I had to get my license renewed, it was 2 days before my due date with my first child. The DMV lady looked at me and said, “Honey, I know this weight can’t be right, but there’s no way I’m going to ask you what you weigh now. Just change it next time.” 😃 The license says 145 (when I was 18) and I was up to 215 (40 pounds of extra me, 30 pounds of baby weight). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-drivers-license-accurate-for-height-weight/419986.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-drivers-license-accurate-for-height-weight/419986.md?page=3)