Driving in USA - First Time

The_Guardian

Hey,

Long time US Traveler - both for business and for pleasure. First time driving.

I am taking a trip next week for business in to JFK / NYC. First few days will be meetings and conferences, but the second half of the trip allows me some down time to go and visit some friends I have in the northern part of the state of New York (very close to Canadian border)

Any tips? - I would consider myself a competent driver here in Ireland for many years, but I have always put off driving in the US due to the difference in side of car and side of the road and my general anxiety when thinking of same.

Am I over thinking it ? - what are the main things I should look out for, and, do you think I am getting in over my head here, given the fact that I have never driven in the US before?

Advice much appreciated!

the_syco

The cars come towards you are on the side of the car you are sitting on.

Once you keep this in mind, it's a lot easier to get your head around it. This nugget of advice made my driving in Italy & Canada a lot easier.

JIdontknow

I was the same as you before and honestly didn't find driving in America bad at all. Takes a little time to adapt, for example at some junctions especially when first in the queue and what lane to follow through that junction. Other than that with the car being an automatic it's one less thing to worry about and you can concentrate on the roads etc. I would also suggest using a GPS for directions, to make the driving a little less stressful.

Below thread has some information regarding driving in USA which might be helpful.

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057961664

salmocab

Don’t worry it’s not as difficult as you imagine it, once your in the car and see the traffic going you just fall into it. Obviously you need to concentrate a bit more at turns etc but the road markings and signs won’t let you go far wrong.
I was a bit worried first time, it was in SF but after a couple of miles I realized it wasn’t hard at all.

NSAman

Driving here is simple. It is no different to Ireland, in fact simpler. Someone else had a thread on this recently, had some great advice on there.

granturismo

4 way stops, turn right on red (check for sign posts prohibiting this), stopping for school buses, parking in the direction of traffic are just a few points discussed here;

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=106126963

dennyk

Switching over isn't too bad; it'll take you a few days to get used to sitting on the left side of the car and driving on the right, but once you learn it it'll stick with you forever.

The roads in the US will generally be much wider than here, and the lanes will be wider as well, so that will likely be pretty easy for you. The Interstates (motorways) near big cities will be bigger and busier than you may be used to, though. I don't advise trying to drive anywhere in NYC itself if you can possibly avoid it.

Roundabouts and give way signs are rare to nonexistent; any junctions will usually either have traffic signals or stop signs (sometimes just on one road, sometimes on all of the connecting roads). At four-way/all-way stops, the rule generally is that the first car to arrive is the first to proceed; if two cars arrive at the same time, yield to the vehicle on your right. Be cautious and expect other drivers to completely disregard these rules and maybe even ignore the stop sign entirely, though.

It is legal (and often expected) to make a right turn at a red light after stopping in New York State, but right turns on red are not legal in New York City (unless it is explicitly posted as being allowed), so keep that in mind if you are driving within the city limits. You don't have to make a turn on red if you don't feel it's safe, but be aware that people behind you may get impatient and start honking if you don't; just ignore them.

Drivers in the US tend to be more aggressive than here in general. Speeding is very common, especially on the highways and Interstates, rolling right-turn-on-red and stop signs isn't unusual, and tailgating and poor lane discipline are endemic (don't expect anyone to keep right when they aren't overtaking on the Interstates, because it generally won't happen; you may have to overtake on the right yourself to get by them, but that is actually legal there...). Traffic flow on the Interstates will usually be above the speed limit, so be careful if you are sticking to the limit, as the surrounding traffic will often be moving quite a bit faster. You can match the speed of traffic if you want, but you could end up getting done for speeding if you do (even if everyone else is doing it as well).

If you do get stopped by the police, put your hazards on, pull over to the right (*not* the left, even if you are in the left lane) and stop safely off the road as soon as possible. Once stopped, roll down all the windows, turn off the car and place the keys on the dash (if it isn't a keyless ignition), turn on your dome lights if it's dark, and then keep both hands on the top of the steering wheel in plain view. Don't go digging around for papers or reaching for anything unless the police officer asks you to, and absolutely do not open your door or try to get out of the car. Most cops in the US are reasonable folks, of course, but traffic stops make some of them jumpy.

stargazer 68

dennyk wrote: »

If you do get stopped by the police, put your hazards on, pull over to the right (*not* the left, even if you are in the left lane) and stop safely off the road as soon as possible. Once stopped, roll down all the windows, turn off the car and place the keys on the dash (if it isn't a keyless ignition), turn on your dome lights if it's dark, and then keep both hands on the top of the steering wheel in plain view. Don't go digging around for papers or reaching for anything unless the police officer asks you to, and absolutely do not open your door or try to get out of the car. Most cops in the US are reasonable folks, of course, but traffic stops make some of them jumpy.

Definitely this!! Have driven through Colorado from Denver to Aspen and back and then through the Southern States etc so the roads are excellent to drive on.
Pay attention to the signs though - i.e 'you are in the vicinity of a federal penitentiary, do not stop for hitch hikers' - which we thought was hilarious.
But also 'fines doubled when workmen are present! The motorways are always being worked on so keep an eye out for those signs.

Hubbie got stopped by a cop for speeding - was trying to slow down when we saw the sign but was driving a huge truck of a thing. Anyway cop was understanding as he could see we had been trying to slow down. No fine but did get a warning ticket.

The_Guardian

I just wanted to report back here, post my trip, to provide an update and some feedback now that I have the perspective! :-

Trip went *perfectly, hopped in the car at JFK and drove it immediately north-west. About a 7 hour drive, non-stop with traffic and construction. I drove at night, as I wanted to ensure I arrived by the next morning, and, lower traffic volumes (at least, that was my assumption).

For context I rented and drove an Audi Q7.

Initial few moments in the car were me saying 'What the f**k am I doing?!' over and over and questioning all my life choices to date, but after about 30 mins I calmed down, took to it like a duck to water, and all was fine.

Even though I had initially planned to avoid it, i neglected to confirm this on the satnav in the car before setting off, and it took me straight through lower Manhattan!! baptism by fire, but, far scarier in my mind that in actual reality, it was all fine.

The rest of the journey, apart from some traffic and lane closures for construction, was pretty uneventful. I had a hard time staying awake towards the end of the journey, and had to take a short rest break to have a coffee and do some jumping-jacks, and then I set off for the last hour.

Lesson learnt: Take more rest breaks, and, even stop over somewhere for a few hours of sleep.

Key Points (some of which have already been raised, so, thanks for that):

- Sitting left and driving right really helps you stay on the correct side, feels more natural. Most likely, you are overthinking it all.
- Hug the center-line as much as possible via your left wing mirror, else you'll drift too far right
- Some areas allow right-on-red, some do not, usually signposted, when in doubt, don't go - if you are wrong, you will be politely informed.
- Cops everywhere, way more than over here. Like, every corner/junction/lane, so:
- Always be vigilant of speed limits, they stick to them a lot more than we do over here, that's for sure.
- A lot more stop signs, and, everyone respects and observes them, come to a complete stop. every time.
- * Take out ADDITIONAL insurance, with collision damage and road side assistance


Thanks again to everyone who commented, really no big deal after all.

* Half way through my 7 day trip to the north-west, I hit a deer!! Came out of nowhere, scared the life out of me, nothing I could do. Done some serious damage to the front grill / bumper and the hood. The hood dented and buckled. Thankfully I was fully covered by insurance. Car was swapped out same day and no issues after that. Apparently they see it all the time up the neck of the woods.

Note to all, make sure you have good insurance, and not just the standard. It really saved me here.

Jewelers

The_Guardian wrote: »

I just wanted to report back here, post my trip, to provide an update and some feedback now that I have the perspective! :-

Trip went *perfectly, hopped in the car at JFK and drove it immediately north-west. About a 7 hour drive, non-stop with traffic and construction. I drove at night, as I wanted to ensure I arrived by the next morning, and, lower traffic volumes (at least, that was my assumption).

For context I rented and drove an Audi Q7.

Initial few moments in the car were me saying 'What the f**k am I doing?!' over and over and questioning all my life choices to date, but after about 30 mins I calmed down, took to it like a duck to water, and all was fine.

Even though I had initially planned to avoid it, i neglected to confirm this on the satnav in the car before setting off, and it took me straight through lower Manhattan!! baptism by fire, but, far scarier in my mind that in actual reality, it was all fine.

The rest of the journey, apart from some traffic and lane closures for construction, was pretty uneventful. I had a hard time staying awake towards the end of the journey, and had to take a short rest break to have a coffee and do some jumping-jacks, and then I set off for the last hour.

Lesson learnt: Take more rest breaks, and, even stop over somewhere for a few hours of sleep.

Key Points (some of which have already been raised, so, thanks for that):

- Sitting left and driving right really helps you stay on the correct side, feels more natural. Most likely, you are overthinking it all.
- Hug the center-line as much as possible via your left wing mirror, else you'll drift too far right
- Some areas allow right-on-red, some do not, usually signposted, when in doubt, don't go - if you are wrong, you will be politely informed.
- Cops everywhere, way more than over here. Like, every corner/junction/lane, so:
- Always be vigilant of speed limits, they stick to them a lot more than we do over here, that's for sure.
- A lot more stop signs, and, everyone respects and observes them, come to a complete stop. every time.
- * Take out ADDITIONAL insurance, with collision damage and road side assistance


Thanks again to everyone who commented, really no big deal after all.

* Half way through my 7 day trip to the north-west, I hit a deer!! Came out of nowhere, scared the life out of me, nothing I could do. Done some serious damage to the front grill / bumper and the hood. The hood dented and buckled. Thankfully I was fully covered by insurance. Car was swapped out same day and no issues after that. Apparently they see it all the time up the neck of the woods.

Note to all, make sure you have good insurance, and not just the standard. It really saved me here.

who did you hire the car with ?

NSAman

The_Guardian wrote: »

* Half way through my 7 day trip to the north-west, I hit a deer!! Came out of nowhere, scared the life out of me, nothing I could do. Done some serious damage to the front grill / bumper and the hood. The hood dented and buckled. Thankfully I was fully covered by insurance. Car was swapped out same day and no issues after that. Apparently they see it all the time up the neck of the woods.

Note to all, make sure you have good insurance, and not just the standard. It really saved me here.

Welcome to the USA. Yes deer are a major problem and pest here. Have destroyed a new car by hitting one at a low speed. Especially at night and in highways they can be a killer. While they are absolutely beautiful animals, they cause major issues both with disease and also with traffic.

Nothing you can do when they dart onto the road... but you did the right thing with insurance. Always cover for ALL eventualities.

jme2010

The_Guardian wrote: »

I had a hard time staying awake towards the end of the journey, and had to take a short rest break to have a coffee and do some jumping-jacks, and then I set off for the last hour.

Lesson learnt: Take more rest breaks, and, even stop over somewhere for a few hours of sleep.

Totally agree. My tip is to use google maps to estimate the time to drive. If it's over 7 hours but less than 10 I'd take two approaches:

1) It's a one day drive if I leave before 9am and break it up in to 3/4 hour legs.
2) If leaving late afternoon / evening. I will find a motel just before or at the halfway point. (book it before you hit the road. like $50)

Also whatever journey time google tells you (for very long drives), add 2 hours for stops / gas/ coffee and very quick sightseeing if it pops up

cena

Hope you don't mind me jumping here. What are the rules to drive a family members car in the states while on a holiday visa

dennyk

For licensing, your Irish license will usually be sufficient in most if not all states, at least for a certain period of time. The main thing is to ensure that you are covered by insurance. Motor insurance in the US works very differently in each state, so there's no blanket advice, unfortunately; your US family member will need to contact their insurance agent and verify that their insurance policy will provide coverage for someone else (of your age and with a foreign driving license) to drive their car, or to add the necessary options to their policy if it doesn't currently provide that coverage.

You'll want to make sure that all of the required paperwork is in the car as well; again, this varies by state and even by municipality, but generally you must have at least the car's registration paperwork and proof of insurance coverage in the car at all times. In some locations you might need proof of safety or emissions inspections, etc. if that location requires them (although these might be tied to the car registration itself in some places rather than requiring separate documentation). Make sure that all of this is up to date and not expired as well; if you are stopped for expired tags or inspection stickers or whatnot, you as the driver will be responsible for the ensuing fines and/or criminal charges. Might not hurt to have a signed letter from the car owner granting you permission to drive it, as well, and ideally you should make sure the owner can be reached via phone at any time while you are using the car; if you were to be stopped by the police, they may want to verify with the owner that you do in fact have their permission to use the car and that it isn't stolen.

The_Guardian

Jewelers wrote: »

who did you hire the car with ?

Enterprise. Significantly cheaper than Hertz. Great service at JFK, though, I did use the Premium Elite service, so perhaps that entitled me to a better service, not sure as it was my first time.

The_Guardian

NSAman wrote: »

Welcome to the USA. Yes deer are a major problem and pest here. Have destroyed a new car by hitting one at a low speed. Especially at night and in highways they can be a killer. While they are absolutely beautiful animals, they cause major issues both with disease and also with traffic.

Nothing you can do when they dart onto the road... but you did the right thing with insurance. Always cover for ALL eventualities.

Thanks. I felt somewhat less embarrassed when I heard that it happens regularly and to the best of drivers. I was more concerned about my passengers, whom are native to the area, felt like I let them down! though, they were super chill about it.

Insurance definitely saved me, and I am glad that I was smart about it in advance.

The_Guardian

cena wrote: »

Hope you don't mind me jumping here. What are the rules to drive a family members car in the states while on a holiday visa

dennyk wrote: »

For licensing, your Irish license will usually be sufficient in most if not all states, at least for a certain period of time. The main thing is to ensure that you are covered by insurance. Motor insurance in the US works very differently in each state, so there's no blanket advice, unfortunately; your US family member will need to contact their insurance agent and verify that their insurance policy will provide coverage for someone else (of your age and with a foreign driving license) to drive their car, or to add the necessary options to their policy if it doesn't currently provide that coverage.

You'll want to make sure that all of the required paperwork is in the car as well; again, this varies by state and even by municipality, but generally you must have at least the car's registration paperwork and proof of insurance coverage in the car at all times. In some locations you might need proof of safety or emissions inspections, etc. if that location requires them (although these might be tied to the car registration itself in some places rather than requiring separate documentation). Make sure that all of this is up to date and not expired as well; if you are stopped for expired tags or inspection stickers or whatnot, you as the driver will be responsible for the ensuing fines and/or criminal charges. Might not hurt to have a signed letter from the car owner granting you permission to drive it, as well, and ideally you should make sure the owner can be reached via phone at any time while you are using the car; if you were to be stopped by the police, they may want to verify with the owner that you do in fact have their permission to use the car and that it isn't stolen.

Pretty much echo and +1 to what dennyk says.

I was fine on my Irish drivers licence and it was immediately recognized by the officials at JFK, especially if it's the new plastic credit-card sized one, they automatically know where to look it seems. No issues at all.

In terms of legality, you are fine, I believe, once you are on an ESTA or Holiday Visa, to drive for the duration of your stay, without needing anything else. I would not worry about that.

It's the insurance that I would place most emphasis on, both by my own accounts of what happened to me, as well as just general good common sense.

I took out the additional insurance with Enterprise themselves, as well as the standard cover, I took out collision, accidental and personal injury to both myself and a third party. Added on about $200 all in.

You have options though. Depends on the state, but I have heard GEICO are good, and there are probably others too.

Good luck.

jme2010

The_Guardian wrote: »

Enterprise. Significantly cheaper than Hertz. Great service at JFK, though, I did use the Premium Elite service, so perhaps that entitled me to a better service, not sure as it was my first time.

Do you mind me asking what rate you got for this all-in including insurance + roadside?

Thanks

The_Guardian

jme2010 wrote: »

Do you mind me asking what rate you got for this all-in including insurance + roadside?

Thanks

€790.00 all in was my total for 7 days, it was a 'premium SUV' (Audi Q7) so most likely higher charge than normal I guess.

Extra insurance was about €120 and the roadside was about €60, if I remember correctly.

I also added a Fuel Refill, so I could just bring it back empty, that was about €50.

él statutorio

cena wrote: »

Hope you don't mind me jumping here. What are the rules to drive a family members car in the states while on a holiday visa

In short, your family member needs to contact their insurer.

I have a policy with Geico and they confirmed that anyone from Ireland with a full clean license can drive any of my cars (with my permission of course) with no issues and are fully covered to the same level as me. It's limited to something like 120 days in any calendar year but that's not an issue.

I have friends over from Ireland this week and they're covered.

The gist of it is you insure the car, not the person.

NSAman

él statutorio wrote: »

In short, your family member needs to contact their insurer.

I have a policy with Geico and they confirmed that anyone from Ireland with a full clean license can drive any of my cars (with my permission of course) with no issues and are fully covered to the same level as me. It's limited to something like 120 days in any calendar year but that's not an issue.

I have friends over from Ireland this week and they're covered.

The gist of it is you insure the car, not the person.

I agree with the above. Always check the insurance policy. My insurance policy is full drivers license from anywhere in Europe is covered with my permission.

Not all insurance companies offer this so ALWAYS check before getting into a car that you are insured. Police do not take ignorance of this on board... not to mention the costs associated if something were to happen.

Jewelers

The_Guardian wrote: »

€790.00 all in was my total for 7 days, it was a 'premium SUV' (Audi Q7) so most likely higher charge than normal I guess.

Extra insurance was about €120 and the roadside was about €60, if I remember correctly.

I also added a Fuel Refill, so I could just bring it back empty, that was about €50.

do not all insurance policy's have road assist its just a up sale from yokes on desk ? 50 quid so you could bring it back empty sounds mad , there's petrol stations beside every car rental firm , and what did extra insurance cover ?

Wompa1

Glad it worked out. I'd add to get the full coverage with the rental car company.

I got hit in Hawaii and when renting in Phoenix, somebody took a crowbar to my driver's side door. Sh1t happens!

Wompa1

NSAman wrote: »

I agree with the above. Always check the insurance policy. My insurance policy is full drivers license from anywhere in Europe is covered with my permission.

Not all insurance companies offer this so ALWAYS check before getting into a car that you are insured. Police do not take ignorance of this on board... not to mention the costs associated if something were to happen.

Yep. Geico only allowed 30 days for me on my Irish license on my own policy but would allow 120 days for an Irish family member on my policy.

él statutorio

Wompa1 wrote: »

Yep. Geico only allowed 30 days for me on my Irish license on my own policy but would allow 120 days for an Irish family member on my policy.

Maybe they changed their policy, I drove for almost 2 years here on my Irish License before they put their foot down and insisted I get a US one, which I eventually did in 2016.