Jun 19 2008
N.C. May Changes Driver’s License to Combat Underage Drinking
Yeah, right…….
RALEIGH — North Carolina driver’s licenses for people under 21 may soon get a new look.
To make it more difficult for minors to buy alcohol, a state legislator from Winston-Salem wants licenses for young people to be formatted vertically, rather than the traditional horizontal licenses that all North Carolina drivers currently carry.
State Rep. Dale Folwell’s bill is scheduled for its final vote today in the N.C. House of Representatives. A companion bill, sponsored by state Sen. Stan Bingham, R-Davie, passed unanimously in the N.C. Senate earlier this month.
I really just pee in my pants laughing every time I see one of these self righteous fools in government waste time and money thinking they can stop a 19 year old from drinking alcohol. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Making it illegal twenty something years ago is what the problem has been all these years.
This bill will have an absolute zero result on curbing the ridiculously illegal purchase of alcohol among those under 21. I guess Folwell has never seen a fake ID in his lifetime or maybe he never had any friends older than him when he was under the drinking age.
Dale, you’re an idiot. Stop wasting the time and money of your constituents.
Actually, having lived in other states where they have vertical licenses (which is nearly most of them these days), they do work for their intended purpose.
I think you’re misunderstanding the reason these laws were passed elsewhere.
The idea behind it is based on the fact that many clerks don’t actually do the math when they check a standard ID (some of them can’t), and a high percentage sell alcohol to minors even after they card them because they’re busy, or they just don’t pay close attention.
The vertical format filters that problem out, and then, young-looking people with horizontal licenses (possibly fake IDs) can take the time and attention of clerks instead.
It’s not going to stop kids from drinking, but it does reduce sales, and in turn reduce the chance of kids driving drunk.
Carolina Blue,
Not having seen it in action myself, I’ll accept your claim that a vertical license will cut down on underage sales.
That said, I believe Sam’s biggest complaint here (one I share) is that it shouldn’t be illegal for under-21’s to drink in the first place! In a country full of asinine laws, this might just win the asshat award for the MOST asinine.
At or by the age of 18, you can do the following:
-Be considered a legal adult for legal purposes
-Drive a car
-Smoke
-See an R-rated movie alone
-Get married without parental permission
-Hold down a full or part-time job and pay taxes
-Go off to college
-Buy a house or rent an apartment by yourself
-Buy a gun
-Join the military and fight in wars
-Vote
And a bunch more I don’t have time to list. But apparently, despite being “old” enough to do all those things and more, you are not “mature” enough to walk into a bar, order a beer, and drink it. Nor are you mature enough to bring home a six pack and drink in the privacy of your home. In fact, you aren’t mature enough to do that for ANOTHER THREE YEARS!!!!
WTF, America????????
Y’know… I love my country. But sometimes we can just be bone stupid about certain things. This is one of them.