If a bill making its way through the New Hampshire Senate becomes law, you will.
Well, maybe not the getting-pulled-over part. Be safe, people.
Sen. Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton, along with six other Republicans and two Democrats, introduced a bill (SB 70) that would create mobile/digital driver's licenses and non-driver ID cards in New Hampshire.
The biggest benefits, Lang said, would be streamlining identification and age verification with a "tap-and-go" model. Like the digital wallet many already have on their cellphones.
It could also eventually give law enforcement officers a quicker way to be alerted to, say, a warrant for your arrest or other important information they need during a traffic stop, instead of the old go-back-to-the-cruiser routine and manually search records on a laptop while possibly putting themselves and other motorists in danger.
"This is a forward-looking bill preparing for the future. TSA has already started accepting digital IDs, other states have adopted digital IDs and businesses are starting to accept digital IDs for identification and age verification," Lang said via email Thursday.
The initial cost of the proposal is about $2 million to create the digital IDs and a management system for the data. The Department of Safety would establish a fee if citizens opt in for the digital ID to make the program self-funded, he said.
Concerned about privacy and fraud? Lang said the IDs would have the same security standards as the TSA and comply with existing privacy laws.
People with fake IDs might eventually have a hard time getting carded, though. Sorry, kids.
If the bill passes the Senate and House this year and is signed by Gov. Kelly Ayotte, it would go into effect Jan. 1, 2026.
Full disclosure: The first sentence in this column paraphrases a prescient 1990s AT&T ad campaign that included predictions from actor Tom Selleck saying, "Have you ever paid a toll without slowing down? You will." Amazing how much they got right, right?
REMOVE SNOW OR DON'T GO
From midnight Saturday to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, State Police received 58 calls about dangerous drivers who had not removed snow from their cars.
Lt. Christopher Storm said drivers need to take the time or, at worst, get a fine.
"Violators unnecessarily put innocent lives at risk and will be fined in compliance with the law," Storm said.
Fines range from $250 to $500 for a first offense and $500 to more than $1,000 for a subsequent violation.
But beyond the hit to your personal finances, removing snow and ice can save lives and has been a state law since 2001, so you should know better, officials said.
Jessica's Law passed after 20-year-old Jessica Smith was killed in a Peterborough crash when a large piece of ice flew off a tractor-trailer.
WRONG-WAY DRIVERS
If the snow and ice weren't already causing some sketchy driving conditions, New Hampshire drivers continue to have a difficult time with following the signs to correct highway on-ramps for some unknown reason.
A wrong-way driver was arrested following a crash that left four people injured on Interstate 93 in Plymouth on Monday.
A Meredith man was arrested last week after driving the wrong way on I-93 in Ashland, State Police said.
This and other recent deadly trends will be part of a discussion Monday during the New Hampshire Traffic Fatality Summit in Concord. The event is open to only first responders and other agencies, but the Union Leader will be there.
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