Driving in America

ben bedlam

Hi,
This summer myself and two friends intend travelling the US from New York to San Fran by road. My question is:

What are the procedures for foreigners hiring a car in the USA? (we all have full Irish driving licences by the way)

Having never driven in the US, where can I get some info on rules of the road, etc?

thanks

bmcgov86

had originally planed something very similar myself, altho the plan has since changed to drive from boston and not new york. we wer going to buy a campervan but it seems quite difficult with the insurance etc so i think we're going to rent one, have looked into that and it seems okay. as for the rules im preety sure there similar to most countries but there is a few differnces, ill have a look for a website and report back if i find anything.

cson

As far as I'm aware its the car thats insured there and not the person as it is here in Ireland. Hoping to do something similar myself with a few mates, we're gonna try do Route 66 at the end from Chicago to LA and make a few stops along the way, Vegas being prominent on the list

onemorechance

Renting a car should be no problem, you will need credit card, drivers license and probably passport as proof of id. Usually need to be over 25, but often you can get a car if over 21. It may be dearer or a smaller car.

If you cannot rent a car, you can always buy a car 2nd hand. There are dealers everywhere. Make sure to get insurance, although it is not compulsory I think in most, if not all States. It will go down better with cops if you have it and each state have their own laws.

Your Irish drivers license is good enough for up to 12 months in the USA. It may be useful to get the International Drivers license from AA, but as a State Trooper pointed out to me, you just send off for it in the post and it's kinda worthless. The cops will be more interested in seeing your passport if you are pulled over as they can use this to check up on you and if you are legal etc. which will be their main concern when they pull you over. Also, make sure to have the papers for the car, i.e. proof of ownership or the rental agreement. Also have insurance. Like someone said, a car is insured so anyone that is licensed to drive, can drive any insured car.

As for the rules of the road, they vary from state to state. Do the basics right and you should be ok.

* Indicate when changing lanes.
* Only stay in the overtaking lane while you are overtaking
* Keep an eye for traffic coming on the highway and move out to overtaking lane if needed.
* You can break speed limit a bit, as most others will, as long as your driving is ok and you are not constantly weaving in and out of traffic
* Different states have different speed limits and laws
* A lot americans don't wear seat belts, but you will get a ticket for it
* Some states will do you for having opened can / bottle of alcohol in the car, even if person drinking is not driving
* They do have checkpoints in USA for drink driving, but it is rare, usually in states like Montana, in areas where there are native Americans and often alcohol problems. So you can get a checkpoint on the Highway, and they may remove all alcohol from vehicle if one is opened. They may even be as strict is some places that they will do this if it is "on display", i.e. not in a bag. I'm not sure about that one, but I do remember a checkpoint in Montana where the cops were surrounded by confiscated beer on the side of the highway.
* State Troopers, the ones that patrol the highways, are the most strict police in USA, and demand respect. Would be no harm to call them Sir! Not officer, as this is somewhat patronising to them.
* City police are often less strict as they often have more important / serious things to deal with, or they just don't care!
* American cops are much better than Irish cops so be nice / repspectful to them and don't try and fool them too much and you should have no problems.

Enjoy the trip!