SALT LAKE CITY — Utah residents who take a turn behind the wheel will soon be getting a new and improved drivers license.
The new licenses are being redesigned to better secure the actual physical license and cut down on fraud.
While the changes are small and subtle, they are meant to have a big impact on those who would use them to commit fraud and identity theft.
Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Jess Anderson, and the director of the Drivers License division, unveiled a new design Wednesday.
There are some changes regarding laser printing, a code number over the photo and the date of birth being in red. Most people likely won’t even notice the difference, but officials say criminals definitely will.
“There’s going to be a lot of things that they look at when they’re trying to reproduce that license that they’re going to say; ‘Oh, this is different, this is different … as they’re trying to build a new fraudulent license, it makes it very difficult," said Ryan Williams with the Utah Drivers License Division
The difficulty is due to the overlapping data, different layers of print and different types of lasers being used.
Because anyone out there who has had their license stolen, reproduced and used for identity theft knows what a hassle it is to try and clean up a record. Officials believe this will be a big step in preventing that.
Drivers will receive the new and improved license when their current one is expired, or those who would like one immediately you can go to drivers license division and request a new version.
