How Are Drivers Licence Check Digits Calculated?
The simplest way to calculate the check digits on a driver’s licence is by adding the first eleven digits of the number on the driver’s licence. The check digit is the number which is required to make the sum a multiple of ten. For example, let us suppose that the first eleven digits of the number on a person’s driver’s licence are 88003-8001-011, it is a correct number because the sum of the digits of this number, namely the numbers eight, eight, zero, zero, three, eight, zero, zero, one, zero, one and one, is equivalent to the number thirty. This scheme has two advantages. It is very easy to calculate and can catch all single-digit errors. However, the main drawback of this scheme is that it is not able to detect the errors in transposition.
