New license and registration, please

Along with the death of Guru, April 19 marked the sad end of another era: the Iowa DOT switched to a centralized driver’s license issuing system.

Gone are the days when you could walk into a DOT office, take the test (if you’re unlucky), smile for the camera, and leave with a brand new license, still warm to the touch from printing.

Central issuance works like this: instead of getting a new ID over the counter the same day, you receive a temporary paper license to use while the great bureaucratic (or would it be technocratic?) machine digests your personal vitals for authentication. (From what I can tell, this is apparently done by a private firm, not the state run DOT.) Within two weeks, you receive the real, plastic license in the mail.

The Hawkeye State’s shift to central issuance “is to prevent persons from obtaining DLs or IDs fraudulently, meaning either in the identity of another person or under a fictitious identity.” I was unaware this was such a problem, or so easy, to necessitate a switch from the convenient system I’ve known since getting my learning permit. If you ask me, central issuance may make obtaining a genuine license much harder (it certainly won’t be impossible), but I think the issuing of temporary paper licenses opens a whole new market for counterfeiting, at least for those wanting fake IDs to buy alcohol. Why go to all the trouble of reproducing the plastic versions when you can design and print passable temporaries? (Iowa’s ID forgery business may reap hefty profits since temporaries expire after 30 days; any one with a fake temp will need another every month.)

Whatever. What’s done is done, and I’ll have to deal with it when I return to the heartland in July. California’s centralized system worked well, but my visit to the Santa Cruz DMV lacked the satisfying climax I was accustomed to in Iowa. I walked out with a temporary paper ID (sans photo) and a hole punched through my Iowa license, voiding it. I felt very cheated; I badly wanted to become a Californian, yet I had to wait two or three weeks before having the official, physical vindication of residency. It’s disappointing to learn I’ll have to endure the same annoyance when reclaiming status as an Iowan.

However, one benefit of Iowa’s switch to central issuance is a redesign of the state’s IDs. Goodbye prominent pink band across the top. Hello minimalistic marriage of green energy and the state’s license plate. Along with all the pertinent personal vitals, the new license features a wind turbine and the “city skyline” outline from Iowa’s vehicle plates. It’s an improvement, I think, especially if you’re trading in a cheesy, ‘80s-esque Cali license.

Getting a better looking driver’s license is one of the nerdier reasons why I’m eager to return to the Midwest. And, speaking of license plates, I’m also eager to ditch the Golden State’s bland and unimaginative vehicle tags. As beautiful and diverse as California is, the best the state can do is blue letters on a white background with “California” in red script at the top?


Lame.

The DMV does offer special interest plates, and I always thought about getting one (the whale tail plate is popular here on the coast, but I would have gotten the Yosemite inspired plate), but it’s too late now. I already paid my renewal for the blandies, which I’ll only use through July. (Iowa law will require me to register my car after 30 days. So I paid $233 for a one-year renewal I’ll use only two months of.)

The Iowa plate is not spectacular, but at least it’s colorful.


However, there’s one thing California plates have over Iowa’s: they’re still embossed metal. Instead of stamping the plates, Iowa began digitally printing the license numbers with the rest of the design about a decade ago. Back then they still used an aluminum stock, and still beveled the edge, but the DOT traded it in for a flimsy and flat plastic a few years later. The result, compared to the metal version I got for my Jetta in 1999, is pretty cheap. (Check out the history of Iowa’s license plates, and those from other North American states and provinces, at this online index: http://www.15q.net/usindex.html.)