No perhaps about it. It seems to the average American, the word "drivers license" evokes "proof of identity" first and "proof of ability to drive a car" second, because they're using theirs as a general ID more often than for its original purpose.
It gets even funnier when American companies operate abroad and require "two photo IDs" in countries where everyone has a government-provided ID card.
This is because the idea of a National ID Card is for some strange reason (strange to this American, I mean) seen as an evil thing by the general public here.
But we all know our number by memory.
I don't. And I use my passport as an ID when two forms of ID is required.
http://www.wanderlust.co.uk/magazine/articles/destinations/a...
Apparently rail travel made the whole process of issuing and checking passports a bit of a pain so most countries just gave up - they didn't become common again until 1914.
It's not strangely low; Americans can travel to far more than the equivalent of the EU without one. (We can go to all 50 plus Canada and Mexico.)
:(
Edit: Since June 2009.
The US Gov does now issue passport cards which are a form of national ID card that allows citizens back in at international LAND borders. You should ask for one when you apply for your passport; they're nice to carry in your pocket when you're abroad and the full passport is safely locked away.
Yes, it looks like we speak the same language, but the diversity in "American" is at least as broad as the difference between the middle of "American" and "received English". (Yes, I'm aware that there's a lot of diversity in UK English.)
Yes, Americans mostly watch the same TV, but our exports and castoffs are not unknown in Europe.
I've lived in the UK and Oz and in both countries my drivers license stays in my wallet ready for when an over eager bouncer to ask me to prove my age or for when I sign up to a new video store on a whim. My passport pretty much stays at home unless I'm going to the airport.