Travelers who have procrastinated making appointments to obtain driver's licenses or state identification cards that comply with the federal government's Real ID law are catching a break.
To avoid crowding at state motor-vehicle department offices, President Donald Trump said Monday that the deadline to obtain the enhanced licenses will be moved back. The change is intended to foster social distancing to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Without the change, many would not be allowed to board flights in the U.S. without one of the Real ID cards starting Oct. 1, though Real ID-compliant forms of identification don't just include driver's licenses. A passport or a passport card meets the requirement, as do Global Entry cards for U.S. travelers returning from overseas.
More: Real ID applications may be getting faster in effort to meet October deadline
Trump said the new deadline will be announced soon.
"We are postponing the deadline for compliance with Real ID requirement at a time when we are asking Americans to maintain social distancing," Trump said at Monday's news briefing on the coronavirus crisis.
Some states had hoped for more time because of the huge numbers of travelers trying to get into DMVs before the deadline.
More: Coronavirus testing ramps up across the US
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, in particular, has said he has asked the federal government to push back the deadline, Fox 5 New York reported.
The U.S. Travel Association, a trade association for travel-related businesses, hailed the delay.
"Extending the Real ID deadline is clearly the wise course of action at this juncture," said CEO Roger Dow in a statement.
Dow said his organization had asked the Department of Homeland Security for the delay "until the current economic environment improves and DHS can certify that access to air travel will not be negatively impacted" after enforcement of the rule begins.
Another industry group, Airports Council International, said the delay will help slow the spread of the virus.
More: State Department issues Level 4 travel advisory for Americans, which means don't go at all
"In a time of social distancing and requests for people to stay home, now is not the time to be sending more people to their local departments of motor vehicles," said CEO Kevin Burke.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, nearly 100 million Americans now have driver's licenses that meet the new standards. However, Chad Wolf, the acting DHS secretary, said in February two-thirds of Americans still lack a compliant license.
Contributing: Dawn Gilbertson
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March 24, 2020 at 09:30AM
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Travelers get a break: Real ID deadline being pushed back due to the coronavirus - USA TODAY
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