I was browsing the Visa credit card site (as a result of another thread), and was reminded of something. How widespread are state or province issued non-driver’s license IDs? I don’t drive, so I have an ID issued by the province of Alberta (where I live) that looks more or less like a driver’s license which I use under circumstances where most people would use a driver’s license as ID.
Until recently, I thought similar ids were available in all provinces and states, but my brother-in-law in Ontario was completely unable to get the bureaucrats there to issue him something similar (my sister and brother-in-law also don’t drive). He eventually spent the bucks to get a passport simply to use as an id.
So, how widespread are state/provincial non-driver’s license IDs? Generally speaking (I’m just curious so I don’t need exact details) how do you go about getting one where you are (assuming they exist where you are)?
They are available, AFAIK, in all 50 US states. The procedures and requirements vary slightly from state to state, but in general the process is very similar to applying for a standard driver license:
[ul]
[li]Fill out an application (often the exact same form as for applying for a license)[/li][li]Provide acceptable forms of ID (birth certificate, SS card, etc.)[/li][li]Provide proof of residence (utility bill, bank statement, etc.)[/li][li]Have picture taken. (smile)[/li][/ul]
I just got one for the state of Virginia, where I now live, in fact. I’m surprised that Ontario has no equivalent, and some searching has turned up nothing.
Well, I didn’t get my driver’s license until I was 19. But at 18, I was old enough to get into bars (this was in the early '80s), so I took my birth certificate to my local Dept. of Motor Vehicles, and they issued me an “Age of Majority” card, that looked exactly like a driver’s license, except it clearly specified that it wasn’t a driver’s license. Don’t know anything about Canada, though.
Massachusetts offers both IDs (available to anyone over 16 who doesn’t drive anywhere and has a valid SSN or reason for not having one, and who lives in MA) and Liquor IDs (available to anyone over 21 who doesn’t drive in MA and has a valid SSN or reason for not having one). Merchants are more protected by only accepting Liquor IDs than also accepting IDs, apparently.
Yes. The Canadian and U.S. air control systems are heavily integrated, and there are a lot of cross-border flights. In the early stages of the crisis on September 11, there was no idea how many planes might be involved, or from where. No-one knew if some of the flights from Canada, or crossing Canadian air-space from Europe, may have also had hi-jackers, so it made sense to ground all air travel in Canada as well.
An additional part of the story was that a lot of American flights got diverted into Canada when the order came to land, since the order was to get down as quickly as possible, wherever possible. Gander, Newfoundland in particular got something around 100 large passenger planes landing, since it’s on the Great Circle route from Canada. Other major centres, like Toronto, Halifax, Montreal and Vancouver also took in American planes. Canada did this even though there was the possibility that some of those planes might also have had terrorists - because good neighbours help each other in trouble.
And that was one of the points at which Dubya started to lose support in Canada, in my opinion. Remember that speech to Congress later in September when he thanked half the world for helping? Somehow, he didn’t think to thank America’s closest neighbour, the county that had been the first to help on September 11, and had sheltered Americans who had been diverted.
If it happened again, I’m sure we’d do it again, because neighbours help, even if there’s a twit in the White House. But a simple “thank you” sure helps with relations.