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If you're homeless, you can't renew your driver's license

An Indiana law has left a homeless man unable to renew the license he needs to drive the car he lives in.

Brian Wilkinson said financial and personal hardships forced him onto the streets of Indianapolis several years ago. Since then, the former correction officer has lived in his car, surviving on his food stamp allowance and help from a relative.

Now his driver's license renewal has been denied on grounds that he does not have a permanent address.

Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles spokesman Dennis Rosebrough said a 2007 state law putting Indiana in line with new federal guidelines requires a physical address to get state-issued identification. "We do not have the latitude to just waive the law and ignore it. So we must apply the law as written," he said.

Read the WRTV report here.

Florida has a similar law, but at IDignity, we've found some ways to deal with it. Need help? The next IDignity events are May 14 in Sanford and May 21 in downtown Orlando.

Full post as published by the 13th juror on May 10, 2009 (boomark / email).