North Carolina boosts driver’s license durability for REAL ID program
11 June, 2019
category: Corporate, Government, Transit
As REAL ID programs start to mature across the country, new lessons about driver’s license durability are starting to emerge. One recent mark comes from North Carolina, where PPG shared that North Carolina’s Division of Motor Vehicles has experienced a “dramatic reduction in customer card replacements and attempted fraud through the use of PPG TESLIN substrate for driver’s licenses and identification cards”
The substrate hosts all of our advanced security features in a highly durable card at a reasonable cost, and its material properties can readily accommodate our future security needs as well
North Carolina began its REAL ID effort in 2016, with the program implemented in May 2017. The state not only had to confirm to U.S. Department of Homeland Security requirements for REAL ID but also improve the driver’s license durability. That effort involved, according to PPG, replacing the DMV’s “existing polyvinyl chloride (PVC)-based DL/ID card construction, which often cracked, peeled, faded and failed to fulfill its mandated eight-year lifecycle requirement.”
That led the DVM and its REAL ID experts to opt for the PPG Teslin substrate composite card. It has, according to the company, the “capacity to accommodate all of the state’s performance and security requirements at one-third the cost of the polycarbonate option.”
REAL ID card materials enhance driver’s license durability
According to PPG, its Teslin substrate functions as “a durable, secure and highly printable synthetic paper that excels for laminated print projects and other applications demanding a tough, high-performance material.” Not only that, the material “provides a variety of benefits for credential and identity documents, including high-definition color photos, laser-engraving, built-in tamper evidence and flexible production and issuance options.”
Since May 2017, PPG says the North Carolina DMV has received no complaints about the REAL ID-compliant cards, including about the driver’s license durability. The state produces some 2.4 million driver’s licenses and state ID cards every year. As well, according to the state, the new cards have been the target of only one fraud attempt, and there has been a “dramatic reduction” in card replacements.
“Teslin substrate delivers durability and adaptability at a cost that reflects ‘mindful stewardship’ of the state’s financial resources,” said Torre J. Jessup, commissioner, North Carolina DMV. “It enabled us to design one of the most secure REAL ID-compliant cards available. The substrate hosts all of our advanced security features in a highly durable card at a reasonable cost, and its material properties can readily accommodate our future security needs as well.”
