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Comment by xnyan | Hacker News Reader

Not updating your DL after changing your address is a crime* in all US states. I'm not as familiar with law elsewhere, but would be surprised if that's not true most other places.

*There are exceptions for active duty military personal and other limited exceptions.

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It is a law but rarely enforced, also some places like Washington are primarily digital meaning you update your DL address online but they don’t print a new ID unless you request it or your DL is expired

That's pathetic. It would mean you can't live anywhere without a street address, such as a camp site or a ship. You also can't be a nomad.

So much for "land of the free".

Unless you’re wild camping, campsites have addresses. So do marinas where a ship would need to be docked more or less regularly to establish residency.

As for being a nomad, you don’t need a driver’s license or any kind of ID to wander if you’re willing to sleep rough. If you want to drive on public roadways though, you better have a primary address where the courts can send someone if you kill someone in a traffic accident and bail.

Docking is expensive, so no. It's also only needed once per 5 years or so for maintenance.

Government fining you a ticket doesn't mean your address has to be on the drivers license. They could register the number plate to an SSN for instance.

Did you skip my last sentence? A traffic ticket is not the worst thing you can do in an automobile. And not everyone eligible for a drivers license will have an SSN.

Bailing from a traffic incident is a crime itself. Good luck getting away with that.

And why would someone not get their SSN if they're old enough to drive?

- some resident aliens (if not authorized to work), B-1/B-2 Visitors, WB/WT (Visa Waiver Program), nonresident aliens

- their spouses and dependents e.g. F-2 Dependents, J-2 Dependents, H-4 Dependents: of H-1B, H-2A, H-2B, or H-3 visa holders.

- Undocumented immigrants: Individuals without lawful status who have a US tax filing requirement.

Read "Who's eligible for an ITIN" https://www.irs.gov/tin/itin/individual-taxpayer-identificat...

In some places in the U.S. it is (or at least was until recently) illegal to be healthy and unemployed.

For most situations where you don't have a permanent address, your address is either the place where you receive mail or the courthouse.

And if you don't have a place to receive mail?

Receiving mail is a requirement for participating in the legal system, which is a requirement for citizens.

Laws of the government can't override laws of physics. If you don't have a place where you can receive mail, do they just arrest you or what? Do they assign a PO box to you?

If you fail to comply with legally delivered court messages (to your registered mail address), then yes the police is going to fetch you.

America is one of the least free countries — they think they're free because the guns=free principle is drilled into them since birth, but it's a lie.

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