People can change their stated hair color when renewing licenses

Q

I will be renewing my driver's license next year. Do

I need to inform the Department of Motor Vehicles that my natural hair color is no longer brown? I am now completely gray and while I can't remember the last time I had to show my license to law enforcement, I might have to show it to the Transportation Security Administration. Would there be a problem if my license states brown and I'm gray?

— Susan Hunt, Buena Park

A

Sounds like you intend to use a Real ID to board domestic flights, Susan, and you are in good shape.

You can change your stated hair color when you renew your license next year. Plenty of time before the TSA starts requiring adult passengers to show a federally accepted ID, with the Real ID likely being the most popular among travelers. That requirement is set to kick in on May 7, 2025.

“An individual should update their personal information with the DMV, including hair color, at every driver's license (or) identification card renewal,” Angelica De La Peña, a DMV spokesperson, told Honk in an email. “Updates (also) may be made between renewals, but may require an application fee to do so.”

Of course, there will be plenty of travelers hitting airports with Real IDs not reflecting their actual hair color, or weight. So Honk checked in with Lorie Dankers, a TSA spokesperson.

“Identity verification is an important part of the security screening process and travelers should do their part to ensure their photo ID is a good representation of them as an individual,” she told Honk in an email. “However, that is between them and the issuing agency and less about TSA. …

“Whether you have changed your hair color, you have no hair or you have gained or lost weight, the TSA officer is able to look at the name on the photo ID, look at the name on the boarding pass and make a quick judgment call as to whether or not you are the same person in front of them as is pictured on the credential,” she said.

By the way, the DMV only accepts certain hair colors: auburn, black, brown, blonde, gray, red and white. But you also can mark “other.”

“If the applicant has blue, pink, orange or another hair color that is not listed, they would need to select the `other' option,” De La Peña said.

Or there is one other option that Honk is approaching with Usain Bolt speed — and not by choice:

“The option for bald would be `no hair,' ” De La Peña said.

Q

I've noticed that the white lines in three stretches on or near the 5 Freeway in south Orange County are nonexistent or nearly so. In one spot on the freeway, the lines in the third lane disappear for about 15 to 20 feet, causing me to become a little disoriented. All of these areas present potential danger. Can you please let me know who to contact to see if someone can take action?

— Joe Jaskowiak,

Lake Forest

A

Honk is sorry, Joe, it took him a couple of months to dig your question out of his electronic mailbag.

But if those lines are still doing a disappearing act, you can submit a repair request at csr. dot.ca.gov, and Caltrans should update you, including telling you if any of those locations are outside of the state agency's jurisdiction.

HONKIN' FACT: Want a cheap date on a sunny day on the water? Take a round trip on the city of Long Beach's AquaBus. For two bucks each, up to 35 passengers get a 20-minute cruise in a water taxi that stops at the Aquarium of the Pacific, Shoreline Village and the Queen Mary (the stops are modified today). Maybe you will run into Honk and Mrs. Honk making a return trip. The boat service kicked up again in late May after a three-year hiatus prompted by the pandemic, said Arantxa Chavarria, a Long Beach Transit spokesperson. If you want a longer ride, check out AquaLink. For information about both lines, including the schedules, go to ridelbt.com/ watertaxis.

To ask Honk questions, reach him at honk@ocregister.com. He only answers those that are published. To see Honk online: ocregister.com/tag/honk. Twitter: @OCRegisterHonk