Iowa, You Can Still Make Me Smile

Good news, the state isn't banning smiling.

The DOT is using new facial recognition software on driver's licenses. But unlike other states, Iowa won't require a long face. From Radio Iowa:

(DOT spokesperson Dena) Gray-Fisher says the software Iowa is putting into practice will not require people to put on a blank, stony face. "Any Iowan can certainly have a modest, reasonable smile and that's not going to affect the software," Gray-Fisher says. "We're not going to have any crazy faces or something that might really distort your face, but anybody can have a reasonable smile."

Several states, including Arkansas, Indiana, Nevada and Virginia, require people to have a "neutral" face for their photos, something like the people featured in Iowa native Grant Wood's classic painting "American Gothic."

I, personally, have never felt like smiling, even modestly, during a visit to the license station. But my license is up for renewal this summer, so I'd better find a mirror and start practicing my reasonable smile.

So what's an unreasonable smile look like? For that, we'll turn to my 3-year old daughter, who is often smiling and unreasonable:

Look out folks. She'll be on the road in just 13 short years. Yikes.