Temporary driver’s licenses now the norm

A Waimea man is hoping speaking out about his experience using one of the county’s new temporary licenses will spare other county residents from trouble.

William Akina, 30, took his father to Blue Dragon in Kawaihae for dinner Sunday evening. Before they were seated, Akina approached the bar and ordered a drink. The bartender took a look at Akina’s temporary, paper driver’s license, issued by Hawaii County, and told Akina he couldn’t accept it.

“He wasn’t accepting it because he didn’t know what it was,” Akina said.

The restaurant’s manager also declined to accept the card, and other employees said they had never seen a paper license.

The manager threatened to call the police. Akina said he thought that was a good idea.

“The cops came and told the employees this is legit,” he said. “This is real.”

Akina got the temporary license when he went to renew his driver’s license. The county recently switched to a centralized license distribution, Hawaii County Department of Finance Vehicle Registration and Licensing Division manager Lee Lord told West Hawaii Today last month. People seeking licenses receive a temporary one and the county mails a plastic one. In most cases licenses are arriving within two weeks, Lord said.

“It was humiliating,” Akina said. “It was pretty wrong from my point of view.”

He said he checked Monday morning with the Department of Liquor Control, where an official told him restaurants were supposed to have been notified about the temporary licenses.

The temporary one looks the same as a plastic license, with the addition of the expiration date being printed in bold, red letters, Akina said.