Senior Vice President Missy Pearcy demonstrates the copy machine used to record the driver’s license at Pegasus Bank in Dallas, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026.
Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News
Missy Pearcy has a beef with the new Texas driver’s license.
Not the price. Not the security features. Not even the hassle of getting one.
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As vice president of Pegasus Bank in Dallas, she asks customers to show their ID on almost every transaction. But the size of the information, especially, the date of birth, is half the size from the previous design.
The font has shrunk so much that when she scans a check, she has to increase the resolution by 50% to read it.
She calls the new design “a disaster.” She wonders how traffic cops and bar bouncers manage.
Her proposed solution is simple: Change it.
As she told The Watchdog, “The font used is too thin and narrow to be read without enlarging the view greatly. The colors — browns and grays — are quite muted and unattractive.
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“I would strongly support a revision of the design as soon as possible.”
She asked me “Who is responsible for approving this new design? And is there any hope of getting it changed?”
The first question is easy enough to answer. The Texas Department of Public Safety is responsible. The agency released the new design in August 2025.
The second? Don’t hold your breath. DPS issues millions of these licenses and ID cards. A redesign seems unlikely.
Here’s what DPS spokesperson Sheridan Nolen told me: The driver’s license and ID cards follow standards and rules set by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. Texas complies with these national standards.
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“These standards balance readability with … fraud-prevention,” Nolen said.
New features
I find one new feature a bit baffling. It’s a unique addition to the new license design. I’ll get to that in a moment. First, I want to take a look at the security features.
The cards are made of polycarbonate, a material designed to make them difficult to tamper with or reproduce. The REAL ID star in the upper-right corner is no longer gold. It’s now white on black and laser-engraved.
Other changes I noticed: the Texas flag is gone. In its place, a herd of horses runs along the bottom.
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Transparency
Now about that new feature that’s a bit baffling.
When my new license arrived in the mail, the first thing I noticed was an outline of Texas, about three-quarters of an inch tall. It’s transparent, so hold the card up to the light and you can see through it.
Inside that transparent Texas there’s a tiny version of my photo.
I’ve never seen anything like that on an ID card.
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DPS gives this feature a name that sounds like it was generated by a committee of engineers:
“Dynamic Look Through Element with Optical Variable Material with UV.”
But I have to admit: If you’re trying to counterfeit the card, that little see-through Texas — with your face hiding inside it — is going to make your task considerably more difficult.
Yo, criminals: Good luck reproducing that. Oh, and let us not forget the underage drinkers, too.
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