Thousands Of Hawaii ID Cards Were Misprinted In February, State DOT Says
The IDs with errors can still be used at airports, for now.
If you received your Hawaii driver’s license or state identification card in the mail in February, your card might have an error.
The state Department of Transportation announced in a press release Monday that it discovered an error on licenses and ID cards. The 鈥淗awaii鈥 text in the top left corner was misprinted due to hardware used by the state鈥檚 license vendor. The misprinted cards show “Hawaii鈥 in plain sans-serif typeface instead of a script typeface.
“This is the first time there is a visible misprint on IDs,鈥 said Shelly Kunishige, a DOT spokeswoman. “In the past there were only problems where individual IDs cannot be scanned.鈥
There were a total of 2,450 misprinted credentials mailed out, with 1,684 cards sent to residents on Oahu, 353 cards to people on the Big Island, 121 cards mailed out on Kauai and 292 cards in Maui County.
For now, the misprinted credentials can still be used at airports as the U.S. Transportation Security Administration was notified of the error, the press release said. Law enforcement have also agreed to treat the misprinted credentials as a valid form of identification.
However, the DOT still encouraged people to get their new credentials that are printed correctly. Kunishige said it is better to have the correct credentials as the department is not sure if the misprinted ones can still be used for the future.
Replacements will be provided at no cost to those affected by the misprint by the vendor. The replacement cards will also begin to be reissued this month.
The DOT is still encouraging residents to check their IDs. The City and County of Honolulu will contact affected individuals on Oahu and will send replacement credentials in the mail. People in other counties should contact their local licensing office, as different counties may have different procedures.
