# State driver licenses which will no longer allow you to fly **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 15, 2017, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-driver-licenses-which-will-no-longer-allow-you-to-fly/777206 "2017-01-15T03:49:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-driver-licenses-which-will-no-longer-allow-you-to-fly/777206/1 "2017-01-15T03:49:17Z")
Effective in January of next year, the driver licenses issued in eight states will no longer be recognized as valid for ID for flying within the US. People who live in those states will have to get other forms of ID. Those states are Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Washington. > **[If You Live In One Of These 8 States, Your Driver's License Won't Be Valid...](https://www.simplemost.com/state-drivers-licenses-tsa-not-accept-travel-2018/?utm_content=inf_10_3489_)** > > Updated 10/4/2017 As if traveling wasn't already complicated enough, a federal mandate is imposing new requirements on state driver's licenses and ID ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-driver-licenses-which-will-no-longer-allow-you-to-fly/777206/2 "2017-01-15T04:16:56Z")
Can you share the reasoning behind this change? Why? ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-driver-licenses-which-will-no-longer-allow-you-to-fly/777206/3 "2017-01-15T04:17:47Z")
The real ID act of 2005? Well it’s not like those states haven’t had time to get with the program. ---
**Author:** ![Graymalkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@Graymalkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Graymalkin)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-driver-licenses-which-will-no-longer-allow-you-to-fly/777206/4 "2017-01-15T04:33:16Z")
I think Oklahoma also has this problem. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-driver-licenses-which-will-no-longer-allow-you-to-fly/777206/5 "2017-01-15T04:37:58Z")
And Arizona. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-driver-licenses-which-will-no-longer-allow-you-to-fly/777206/6 "2017-01-15T04:57:56Z")
Probably this will be delayed or overturned by Congress. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-driver-licenses-which-will-no-longer-allow-you-to-fly/777206/7 "2017-01-15T05:34:23Z")
I think I’ll just make this a sig line: The Terrorists Have Won. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-driver-licenses-which-will-no-longer-allow-you-to-fly/777206/8 "2017-01-15T05:42:31Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > And Arizona. Do they still have the licenses that don’t expire for decades? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-driver-licenses-which-will-no-longer-allow-you-to-fly/777206/9 "2017-01-15T05:53:55Z")
Only twenty-five states are currently in compliance. Seventeen states are in the process of coming into compliance and have been given extensions. (Really guys? You had twelve years.) The remaining eight states haven’t started. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-driver-licenses-which-will-no-longer-allow-you-to-fly/777206/10 "2017-01-15T11:30:58Z")
You need ID to fly? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-driver-licenses-which-will-no-longer-allow-you-to-fly/777206/11 "2017-01-15T12:23:29Z")
Yes, we do. Nevermind that the 9/11 terrorists used their actual, real ID’s and had been in the US on valid student visas, those who passed the act somehow had the notion that asking those yahoos for ID’s would have somehow stopped the whole affair. :rolleyes: Mind you, upgrading the security and anti-tampering/counterfeiting of ID’s probably wasn’t a bad idea in general but the notion this will somehow significantly prevent terrorism is mostly security theater. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-driver-licenses-which-will-no-longer-allow-you-to-fly/777206/12 "2017-01-15T12:28:02Z")
I _love_ security theatre! 😉 I’m sure we will have to do it too sometime. Not yet though, thankfully. ---
**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:** [January 15, 2017, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-driver-licenses-which-will-no-longer-allow-you-to-fly/777206/13 "2017-01-15T13:54:49Z")
Remember: All the 9/11 hijackers had completely valid, legitimate, IDs. Passports in particular. A few of them were actually on a warning list and were held up for a bit before being allowed to board. As mentioned, [security theater](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/investigation-breaches-us-airports-allowed-weapons-through-n367851). ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-driver-licenses-which-will-no-longer-allow-you-to-fly/777206/14 "2017-01-15T14:47:27Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > You need ID to fly? Be prepared to be pulled over for a check. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-driver-licenses-which-will-no-longer-allow-you-to-fly/777206/15 "2017-01-15T15:08:10Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > You need ID to fly? I believe it started some time in the mid-90s. And, technically, you may be able to fly without ID, but will be subject to more scrutiny and the whims of the agent interviewing you. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-driver-licenses-which-will-no-longer-allow-you-to-fly/777206/16 "2017-01-15T16:19:54Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > As mentioned, [security theater](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/investigation-breaches-us-airports-allowed-weapons-through-n367851). With a bonus however. Think about the new federal program that require people to prove their identity to the satisfaction of a government official in order to obtain a valid ID. And now think about the concurrent movement to require people to produce a valid ID in order to vote. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-driver-licenses-which-will-no-longer-allow-you-to-fly/777206/17 "2017-01-15T16:20:46Z")
For all its faults and idiosyncrasies, the USA might be the only country in the world in which one is free to walk about in a public place without being required to show papers of identity. That fact itself leads to the variety of different documents that are recognized as forms of identity for special purposes. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-driver-licenses-which-will-no-longer-allow-you-to-fly/777206/18 "2017-01-15T16:29:54Z")
Really ? I’ve _never_ been asked for my identity once in Britain, ( apart from opening accounts ) and I’ve _never_ carried identification in any form. Except for debit cards if I took them along, but I could have stolen them. Same applies in Denmark, France and other European counties. The idea that America is ‘the only place’ is always deluded crap from boosters. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-driver-licenses-which-will-no-longer-allow-you-to-fly/777206/19 "2017-01-15T17:04:24Z")
There are other forms of identification that they will accept. See the [list](https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification). My state will probably not be in compliance before the deadline, but I always carry my passport card with me so I’ll be good to fly. If I didn’t already have it I’d probably be pissed that I need to get it to be allowed to fly. The [passport card](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Passport_Card) costs $55 to get and is good for travel by land or sea (but not by air) to Canada and Mexico. The passport book is also an acceptable form of ID for the TSA but costs more and is less convenient to carry around. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-driver-licenses-which-will-no-longer-allow-you-to-fly/777206/20 "2017-01-15T17:12:24Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > Really ? I’ve _never_ been asked for my identity once in Britain, ( apart from opening accounts ) and I’ve _never_ carried identification in any form. > > Except for debit cards if I took them along, but I could have stolen them. > > Same applies in Denmark, France and other European counties. The idea that America is ‘the only place’ is always deluded crap from boosters. And Canada. Yes, just nonsense. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-driver-licenses-which-will-no-longer-allow-you-to-fly/777206.md?page=2)