[olduser]

From BBC News;

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2g30wwmnno

I don't understand why anyone would be surprised?

[Rolebama]

I am not surprised by this. I am surprised that people attending Tests are not already asked for ID though, as their photo License should be checked by Examiners.

FWIW: One of our local Centres employed an Examiner for Motorcycle Tests who was said to pass Testees who carried enough cash. A customer at one of the bike shops was adamant that he paid for his Pass.

[NMNeil]

Same problem here, but people are dying because of it.
https://www.firstcoastnews.com/artic...4-766e6a6a2483
And if you think that's bad.
https://www.hstoday.us/subject-matte...ed-immigrants/

[Santa]

Originally Posted by Rolebama

I am not surprised by this. I am surprised that people attending Tests are not already asked for ID, though, as their photo License should be checked by Examiners.

There was a recent case where a man was refused a test because the examiner said he didn't look like the photo on his licence. He hinted that there was sone racial discrimination.

Here it is:

An MP has written to the Transport Secretary and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) after a learner driver was turned away on the day of his test because the examiner said his face did not match the photo on his provisional licence.
Yin Cheong William Shen, who was born in Hong Kong, waited eight months for a driving test near his home in Basingstoke, Hampshire, before being prevented from taking it.
The agency has upheld the decision and refused to give a refund.

[Rolebama]

When I worked as an AA Patrol we would sometimes be told that an Indemnity was required. This meant a form of acceptable ID was to be shown. I drove off on a number of occasions because I was shown Passports or Photo Licenses which bore no resemblance to the 'holder'. The most extreme was a young lad who tried to pass off a Passport with the photo of a middle-aged woman. On almost all of these occasions I was accused of being racist at the time, but never heard of any such formal complaint being received by the AA.

[NMNeil]

Had many calls where a juvenile tried to use a fake or someone else's license to buy alcohol.
I can't understand why a white male teenager would try and buy beer using a 68 year old black woman's license thinking nobody would notice the slight discrepancy, especially when the license had expired a few years ago. 🤣

[olduser]

Originally Posted by Rolebama

I am not surprised by this. I am surprised that people attending Tests are not already asked for ID though, as their photo License should be checked by Examiners.

FWIW: One of our local Centres employed an Examiner for Motorcycle Tests who was said to pass Testees who carried enough cash. A customer at one of the bike shops was adamant that he paid for his Pass.

But if we are not surprised, why is officialdom not onto it after all they probably went to private schools and the top Universities.

[Beelzebub]

Originally Posted by olduser

But if we are not surprised, why is officialdom not onto it after all they probably went to private schools and the top Universities.

But the whole point of the original story is that photo ID is indeed checked, and 1,731 imposters were caught as a result.

[Rolebama]

I accept my post was ambiguous. My intention was that some of these 'dodgy' IDs were too blatant, yet there must still be some where the photo was close enough in resemblance to be accepted.
This may not be a good example but I have a Freedom Pass and a photo Driving License. The photos I submitted for both of these is the same. The License one looks like I have white whiskers, very light coloured hair and a pallid complexion. The Freedom Pass one shows me with dark hair, mid-grey whiskers, and a ruddy complexion. Looked at together, the photos do look like they could be related, but do they look like me? A bit.

[olduser]

We recognise faces by the geometric layout - distance between eyes, distance from eyes to nose, are eyes nose central, distance nose to mouth, is mouth central, distance from mouth to ears.
On testing, it was found we were very sensitive to small changes in this 'pattern'.
These remain even if the image is over or under exposed or the image size is changed.

In addition, we may note general shape of the face height of forehead, shape of chin, shape of eyes, shape of ears but these are secondary.

[olduser]

Originally Posted by Santa

There was a recent case where a man was refused a test because the examiner said he didn't look like the photo on his licence. He hinted that there was sone racial discrimination.

Here it is:

I see why the driving examiner would have doubts, looking at the 3 photograph's in the BBC article, they all look slightly different to me.
The problem is the face is foreign, not in a racialist sense but rather a face general arrangement we have not seen every day from childhood (an English face).
Recognition of a safe face is a primary survival instinct (is it friend or foe, family, tribe?), a none native face will always set of alarms in our head.
Without training I think everyone will react in the same way.

But I do think, in that situation other ways of proving his identity should have been explored.

I wonder what Rolebama would make of this, due to his military experience exposing him to more nationalities?

[NMNeil]

@olduser We had to be careful here because they also put the drivers weight on the license.
So if you say to the 400 pound woman who needs a crowbar to get into her car that the license says she's 180 pounds so it can't be her license, expect a lawsuit to follow.😁

[olduser]

Were you given any training in the police on photographs as proof of identity?

Did nationality make any difference?

[NMNeil]

Originally Posted by olduser

Were you given any training in the police on photographs as proof of identity?

Did nationality make any difference?

No training as we just ran the license through the in-car terminal to see if it was real or if the driver had any warrants.
As for nationality, no that never made a difference.
When we have the UFO festival we get all sorts here including a German tourist who was chasing a skunk in his car (No idea why). I pointed out that not only would the stink remain for days but they carry rabies. Or a Hungarian student who was selling children's books door to door. I suggested he stop because there was a strong possibility that if he started approaching children outside homes he would get shot. He asked "Would they do that?" My reply of "Around here it wouldn't be the first time" left him visibly shocked.