Legislators consider vertical licenses

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 30 May 2008 08:50:03 -0400

Drivers under 21 could soon get vertical licenses.

Under a bill being considered by state legislators, drivers who aren't old enough to buy alcohol would have licenses that are turned on their side to make it easier for store clerks to spot them.

Twenty-one other states have used the approach, and the N.C. Child Fatality Task Force is pushing the idea.

State driver's clienses are now color-coded in a red-yellow-green system that signals clerks when buyers are old enough to buy tobacco (over 18) and alcohol (over 21). Store clerks also have calendars, notices and cash register gadgets to help them.

But state Alcohol Law Enforcement survyes have shown that more than half the clerks who check IDs from underage buyers still sell them alcohol.

The statistics indicate "a problem with those vendors accurately reading the IDs," said Selena Childs, the task force's executive director. (N&O)

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Legislators consider vertical licenses