LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Recovering DMV dollars

The driver’s license (and DMV ID cards) have become national ID cards, issued by state DMVs. Before issuing these licenses, Delaware DMV spends resources verifying identities, and then, creating a valid and almost fraud-proof document. Secure computers, special papers, picture-recognition programs and participation in several national networks (for fees), and hiring, vetting and training employees, and maintaining secure facilities, cost taxpayers many dollars. Yet, we let many private and public companies and organizations use the driver license document as their primary means of verifying identities. The state could recoup some of these expenses by simply collecting fees when the driver’s license is used for identification, therefore recovering taxpayer dollars. Since the licenses already contain bar codes, systems where the license would be simply swiped, and fees paid back to the state, it would be easy to accomplish. Furthermore, if Delaware, or a Delaware company, were the first to implement such a system, we could easily sell or provide like systems to other states, putting more dollars into Delaware accounts.

Jerry Emerson Former DMV program manager Dover