{"id":2887,"date":"2026-07-22T05:05:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T05:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2887"},"modified":"2026-07-22T05:05:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T05:05:07","slug":"get-used-to-it-honolulu-mayor-responds-to-backlash-over-new-hawaii-license-id-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2887","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Get used to it\u2019: Honolulu mayor responds to backlash over new Hawaii license, ID design"},"content":{"rendered":"
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HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Change is never easy, and the switch to new Hawaii driver\u2019s licenses and state IDs has not been without backlash. <\/p>\n

Read more Red Hill fuel pipeline removal marks key milestone in facility\u2019s closure<\/a><\/p>\n

During a press conference Tuesday, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi commented on the criticism over the first update to the cards in 17 years. <\/p>\n

The changes include 50 safety features to fend off fraudsters. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever those people were that didn\u2019t like it, that\u2019s just the way it is. We\u2019re not backing off. This is the card. Get used to it. Fall in love with it. Take it home. Look at it. Stare at it. Learn to like it,\u201d Blangiardi said.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

A petition against the changes garnered nearly 6,000 signatures. <\/p>\n

HI-93 radio personalities Steezy and Puunui started the petition, and told Hawaii News Now in an interview last week, \u201dIt\u2019s not that we don\u2019t support the new security features. It\u2019s just, you know, working together to come up with something that we\u2019re all going to have in our pockets for quite some time.”<\/p>\n

The petition itself mentioned, \u201cMany of us feel that the current design does not reflect our home\u2019s rich beauty, culture, or identity.\u201d<\/p>\n

But state and city officials defended the design, explaining that it contains critical protections, including raised texts and anti-counterfeit patterns integrated with micro-texts. <\/p>\n

Read more Hawaii welcomes 4 Japan orphans, continuing a longstanding tradition<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAdding another layer of security and making the IDs almost impossible to alter or duplicate,\u201d Kim Hashiro, director of the city Department of Customer Services, said. \u201cThe most significant improvements are the security features.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new cards are also 100% polycarbonate, which Hashiro said makes them, \u201cas durable as safety glasses.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Tuesday\u2019s news conference, Hawaii County Mayor Kimo Alameda attested to the need for sturdier IDs based off of personal experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you compare it, our license and the new one, mine is already peeling, and it can be copied through a Xerox machine, and that\u2019s really unsettling,\u201d Alameda added.<\/p>\n

The new cards are already in circulation, but if you have the old one, it will remain valid until its expiration date.<\/p>\n

Read more Spotlight Now: Gov. Green and Lt. Gov. Candidate John Choi discuss Hawaii priorities<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi defended the new design for driver\u2019s licenses and state IDs after a petition against it garnered nearly 6,000 signatures. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2886,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Get used to it\u2019: Honolulu mayor responds to backlash over new Hawaii license, ID design - Hawaii Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2887\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Get used to it\u2019: Honolulu mayor responds to backlash over new Hawaii license, ID design - 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