The state of Ohio has unveiled their new blue-green colored IDs last week.
In addition, the new IDs will contain the word “Ohio” on the front as well as the year of the state’s founding, 1803, according to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles website.
This is a change that shouldn’t surprise many because, according to Lindsey Bohrer, the spokeswoman for the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, most states try to change the look and scanning technology of their IDs every four or five years.
“We try to stay on top of the look and technology of our ID’s, mostly for security reasons,” Bohrer said.
The security reasons that Bohrer is referring to is the replication and creation of fake identity cards.
“The goal is to stay ahead of the replicators, and hopefully, by us changing the IDs every four or five years, we aren’t giving the replicators enough time to adapt to the new colors and holograms,” Bohrer added.
John Oberlin, Manager of The Crystal, 34 N. Court St., said he had not yet seen the new IDs but none the less his bouncers will be prepared for spotting the fakes.
“We have a book that the bouncers study, and they know the little indicators for each state’s ID to look for to spot a fake,” Oberlin said. “Some of the main things to check is the height, facial features, and expiration dates (on the ID). I’m looking forward to seeing these IDs now.”
However, Athens Police Department Captain Ralph Harvey believes that the new cards aren’t too different from the old IDs.
“They don't look that much different, the holographic image, the information, the state seals — they're all the same. These changes occur on an infrequent basis, but the bars will figure it out pretty quick,” Harvey said.
As for the reason for the new colors — blue and green — Bohrer says that it is, for the most part, chosen randomly. But she did add that they do tend to choose colors that they feel are harder to replicate on a fake.
“The salmon color was definitely hard to copy, and we hope that the blue and green provide the same difficulties,” Bohrer said.
However, some students don’t believe the change will really stop people from obtaining fake IDs.
“I think it's just a waste of money because it won't take long for the new licenses to be replicated again,” Luke House, a freshman studying engineering, said.
Bohrer added there is no rush to get the new IDs. Once your current ID expires you will then be updated with the new card, she said.
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