Question: Will a police officer accept a picture as proof of a valid driver’s license?
Answer: Anyone operating a motor vehicle must carry a valid license and vehicle registration while driving—that’s the law in every U.S. state, and it typically means you must have the physical card or document on hand.
If you hold a valid license but don’t have it when you get pulled over because you forgot your wallet, but you do have a photo of it on your phone, that’s probably better than nothing. A police officer might accept the picture to get your license number and check its validity in a state database. Most state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) databases will list the owner of the registered vehicle, whether it’s been reported stolen, and additional details such as whether the driver has any pending tickets, fines, or warrants.
Still, an officer may opt to issue you a ticket for not having your physical license on hand. Failure to produce your license might be considered a “correctable offense,” meaning that it could be dismissed by the traffic court if you prove that you did in fact hold a valid license at the time you were ticketed.
However, if you never got a license, had your license suspended or revoked, or if it’s expired and you drive anyway, that’s considered a willful offense and you are likely to be charged with a crime. In North Carolina, for instance, failure to produce a physical license during a traffic stop is a misdemeanor punishable by a $25 fine.
What about mobile or digital licenses?
In the digital age, it might seem old-school to need to carry a physical document with you, but keep in mind that licenses have evolved over the years to keep up with security concerns and confirm identifying details. Modern-day licenses might have embedded features like holograms that are designed to prevent counterfeiting, as well as photos and bar codes.
This could all change soon, though, because some states have begun to experiment with mobile driver’s licenses (mDL), which instead of laminated cards, are digital files that can be pulled up on a smartphone or electronic device. They contain the same information as a driver’s license, but it’s encrypted and can only be read with a special application. Advocates of this technology say mDLs are better than standard physical licenses, which can be easily lost, can contain outdated information, and contain personal information that could be exploited by criminals. mDLs are harder to counterfeit and can be updated in real time, advocates say.
For the public, there are potential advantages of mDLs. You could show your date of birth at a liquor store to prove your age and buy alcohol, but choose not to share your address. If you move, you could update your address online without having to visit a DMV office, thus saving yourself time and aggravation, and relieving staff backlogs at those facilities.
However, the Department of Homeland Security has warned that “Cases of identity fraud associated with digital identities will likely increase as mDL usage becomes more widespread.” In a memo to investigators, the agency cited a 2020 case in Louisiana in which a criminal obtained personal information from a victim’s mDL and used it to create a fake lease agreement and open fraudulent bank accounts.
Side note: For proof of insurance, the rules may be different. 49 states and the District of Columbia require law enforcement officers to accept a digital image of your insurance documents on a smartphone as proof that your car is insured.
Deirdra Funcheon is a journalist with a master\\\’s degree from Boston University and more than 20 years of experience covering a broad range of topics. She has worked at Univision (on the investigative team at Fusion), Axios (where she covered Miami-area news) and Bisnow (covering the commercial real estate industry). At Jerry, she aims to empower drivers with knowledge about how their vehicles work and how best to handle repairs, insurance and other complications of car ownership.
Chris Burkhardt is a writer and editor with over a decade of experience across various storytelling mediums. With Jerry, Chris hopes to help anyone with a question about their vehicle easily find the answers they are looking for. Whether you need to know how much insurance costs for a classic car, how to replace a broken light or tell if you need an oil change, Chris wants to help you find solutions the best he can. Prior to joining Jerry, Chris was a digital content producer and writer for NBC and a freelance editor for NerdWallet. A graduate of the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication, if Chris is not working on content, he’s sure to be found cheering on his Ducks!
