Police and DSA oppose photo drivers' licences
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by Lee Kimber
• A UK proposal to bring forward by five years an EU deadline for putting passport photographs on all driving licences has been criticised as being useless in deterring fraudulent applicants.
Police who investigated false LGV driving test applicants— impersonating clients incapable of passing the test—and the Driver Standards Agency warn that the photo plan won't work.
Transport minister Robert Key is considering a Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency proposal for the Passport Office to check the identity of newly
passed driving licence applicants. Applicants will have to submit a birth certificate and a photograph, countersigned by a ..professional person", with their full licence application.
But PC Ian Jackson, whose investigation into driver impersonation in North London last month led to 20 arrests, says criminals could easily beat the proposed new system: "It doesn't verify that the licence holder is the person who took the test," he says.
And he asks: "Who is going to verify that the professional person who countersigns the photograph is genuine?"