Q&A: Everything you need to know about Real IDs as the deadline nears

It has been decades in the making but the authorities deadline to get a Real ID is nearly here That deadline is Wednesday May The regulations for the new ID have been in place since Congress passed a law back in tightening the guidelines to board airplanes The law was first introduced in Congress after the Sept terrorist attacks The new IDs have a security-enhanced star in the upper right-hand corner to show they are compliant with the law The members of the Commission felt having a national standard identification would hopefully make it harder for people to get driver s licenses Since the executive has issued several extensions when it comes to implementing the law but there s likely no chance the cabinet will issue another extension beyond May for the new IDs The IDs which in multiple states reflect a new style of driver s license or ID and are nationally approved were supposed to go into effect in But plenty of state ruling body motor van administrations or DMVs announced they needed more time because of backlogs of paperwork to process the IDs Maryland Motor Van Administration Administrator Chrissy Nizer talked to WTOP s Shawn Anderson and Anne Kramer to explain what the ID does and what you need to do to be compliant before the deadline This interview has been lightly edited for clarity toggle audio on and off change volume download audio Chrissy Nizer tells WTOP what you need to know about Real ID function ' wtop-audio-container fa-play' on 'click' function var audio filename 'div wtop-audio-file' facts mp -url if typeof gtag function gtag 'event' 'post audio' 'play' audio filename 'permalink' window location href Source