Driver's licenses in the United States

The AAMVA provides a standard for the design of driving permits and identification cards issued by its member jurisdictions, which include all 50 US states, the District of Columbia, and Canadian territories and provinces.

[8] Potential explanations for this decline include lower enthusiasm for driving, caused by environmental and road safety concerns; financial issues, such as the costs of driver's education and insurance premiums; stricter standards for granting licenses; and the rising popularity of ridesharing services such as Uber and Lyft.

[14][15] Most recreational and agricultural vehicles such as converted buses, tractor, lawn mowers, or full size (greater than 40 feet (12 m) campers, including fire trucks are exempt from CDL regulations.

[19][20] The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed by President Joe Biden authorized a pilot experiment to allow 18 to 20-year-olds with a CDL to operate in interstate commerce in an effort to alleviate the national truck driver shortage provided they meet all other requirements for operating in interstate commerce.

[27][28] These driver licenses are also accepted as identification for boarding airline flights in the United States even though they do not bear a star symbol indicating compliance with the Real ID Act.

[29] However, neither driver licenses nor non-driver ID cards issued by the U.S. Department of State establish consular or diplomatic immunity.

The separately issued diplomatic or consular identity cards are the sole form of identification verifying the status a person has.

The minimum age to obtain a restricted driver license in the US varies from 14 years, three months in South Dakota to as high as 17 in New Jersey.

[30] Unlike in some states of Australia and some provinces of Canada, graduated licensing laws do not require lowered speed limits, displaying of L and P plates, restrictions on towing a trailer or boat, or prohibitions on highway driving or operating high performance cars.

[35] Other states (including the District of Columbia) that allow transgender, gender nonconforming, and non-binary residents to select "X" as their gender include Hawaii, California, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.

[36] The American Civil Liberties Union, transgender activists and members of the LGBT community praise the new changes as helping individuals have a driver's license that corresponds to their gender identity which may not align with their sex (male or female).

[37] As of 2023, 19 states including the District of Columbia do not require a social security number to apply for a non-commercial driver's license allowing residents regardless of their immigration status to operate passenger cars, motorcycles, and mopeds.

These states include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.

[38] However, Wyoming politicians are seeking to pass a bill in the 2025 sessions to make the drivers licenses obtained by "unauthorized aliens" in other states invalid.

If a driver is convicted of a moving violation in the first full year of licensing, this will result in extension of the passenger restriction for an additional six months.

[84] Due to the expense of the graduated licensing system (including driver education, it can reach upwards of $500 for the entire process), most poorer Michigan residents wait until they are 18, spend $11 to get the Temporary Instruction Permit, and then take a road test, which is no higher than $50.

[94] Note: In Nevada, to obtain a hardship license for a minor, a minor restricted license cannot be approved for commercial driving purposes, to seek employment, or for public school students in Carson City, Clark, Douglas, or Washoe counties; workdays and hours are limited to a maximum of six days per week, ten hours per day; a physician's statement is required if a minor is driving for medical purposes; a "Verification of Need" affidavit must be completed by an unbiased individual (a member of the clergy or a social worker, etc.)

[106] Adolescent drivers must have their permit accident and ticket free for six full months before taking their road test, along with the completion at least 50 hours of supervised driving, 15 of which must be in moderate to heavy traffic.

Applicants must bring their Beginner Permit and submit a PDLA form certifying the following: Teen drivers applying for the Special Restricted License must pass a vision screening and the DMV road test.

Teen drivers that hold the Special Restricted License for 16-year-olds for one year without a conviction for a traffic violation and have not been at-fault in an accident may obtain full driving privileges when they reach the age of 17.

[126] Note: In Wisconsin, to obtain a hardship license for a minor, the minor must be at least 14 years of age, but under the age of 18; must appear in person, accompanied by his or her parent or legal guardian, before an examining officer with a birth certificate showing the minor is at least 14 years old; must have the usage of an automobile, farm truck, dual purpose farm truck, motorcycle with an engine of no more than 125 cc, moped, or motor bicycle owned and registered by the applicant's parent or guardian, or a farm truck leased to the applicant's parent or guardian; must pass an examination, including a test of the applicant's ability to safely operate the type of vehicle for which the minor is requesting the ability to use.

Social Security numbers are now prohibited by federal law from appearing on new driver's licenses due to identity theft or other forms of unlawful use concerns.

Because there is no national identity card in the United States, the driver's license is often used as the de facto equivalent for completion of many common business and governmental transactions.

[148] Thirteen states allow a non-photo driver's license for reasons of religious belief: Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington, and Wisconsin.

[149] Later additions to licenses have included fingerprints, bar codes, magnetic strips, social security numbers, and tamper-proof features, most of which were added to prevent identity theft and to curb the use of fake IDs.

States have slowly added digitized features to driver's licenses, which incorporate holograms and bar codes to reduce forgery.

Thus, in addition to providing driving privileges, the enhanced license also is proof of US citizenship, and can therefore be used to cross the Canadian and Mexican borders by road, rail, or sea, although air travel still requires a traditional passport book.

In 2008, researchers from University of Washington and RSA Labs discovered security vulnerabilities in the RFID implementation including Illegal border-crossing via counterfeiting, Remote cloning, and Denial-of-Service attacks.

[165] The Louisiana digital driver's license requires no additional hardware to accept and includes a “no-touch” policy whereby the citizen remains in possession of the mobile device at all times.

In October 2018, the Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin approved the usage of LA Wallet for voter identification at the polling stations.