USA driving

Whocare

Going to USA in few weeks will be doing good bit driving anyone have any tips or advice different laws ect

Oops!

where in the US?

mikeecho

Every lane is a passing lane.

Lots of speed checks.

DUI ,... It's a thing, it's common.

The cars are under powered.

( I had a 3L 6cyl, and I couldn't wait to get back to my 4cyl 2L turbo diesel)

The parking spaces are massive.

Everything is drive in/thru.

If driving a long distance.. it's monotonous, make sure your rental has sat radio.

When getting gas, just go in and give cash , or leave your card before pumping.. I could never get my card to work at the pump.

Don't get into a road rage incident.

Del2005

The cars handle terribly especially if they are a US brand.

For all states make sure you completely stop at a Stop Sign / traffic lights, you can't pass a school bus in either direction when it's got it's stop lights on. You can pass in any lane. You can turn right on red unless it's signposted not to.

The one that caught me out was that pedestrians get to cross the same time as traffic so if you are turning left/right from a light controlled junction pedestrians will be crossing and have right of way.

You'll terrify any front seat passengers when passing traffic on multi lane roads as our natural inclination is to drive to the wrong side of the lane so it looks like you'll hit the other traffic. As the cars generally handle badly take it very easy when coming off freeways, the exit ramps can be thigh.

You'll have to check the State you are travelling to for their rules.

Don't get involved in road rage a lot are armed.

mikeecho

https://youtube.com/shorts/JOSK6sF5eSU?feature=share

https://youtube.com/shorts/JOSK6sF5eSU?feature=share

bazz26

If you come to a 4 way junction that all have stop signs, usually the vehicle that arrives first to your right has right of way on it. Pedestrians using the crosswalks at these junctions have right of way over vehicles too (as a pedestrian wait until the vehicle stops before crossing though).

Use indicators/turn signals at all times when changing lanes or turning (cops will ticket you if caught).

When approaching a traffic queue, keep a good bit of distance from the car in front of you in your lane as it's not uncommon to get rear ended by a dozy driver not paying attention.

As said at stop sign junctions, you need to completely stop before the line even if the way is clear.

You can turn right on a red traffic light in some states if the way is clear unless it's sign posted not to.

Toll roads are everywhere so normally your rental car's license plate will be on the toll system so you will just get billed at the end of your rental period for any outstanding tolls you use. Watch out for your credit card bill as it can take a day or two after you come home before the toll company forwards it to the rental car company.

Don't park in red zones as the car will be towed away fairly quickly, these are usually marked with the curb painted red and tend to be in front of fire hydrants, etc.

Traffic can be mental on highways and interstate roads, even where most have many lanes. Very easy to miss your exit especially if you have to cross a multitude of lanes.

Most if not all modern cars there have blind spot monitoring but even still you need to check your mirrors constantly when changing lanes as you can pass on both sides unless sign posted not to.

Large SUVs and pickup trucks are very common and can be intimating at first when barrelling down on you in your rear view mirrors.

Most filling stations have pay at the pump card machines but like someone else said I couldn't get any card I had on me to work probably because it was a foreign card so insteald went in a prepaid at the counter where the card worked fine but have money on hand in case it doesn't.

mikeecho

And , when parking.. park in the direction of traffic flow.

stargazer 68

Be wary of works going on along the highways. Fines are doubled in those areas and there are lots of roadworks!!

We passed a couple of signs in Colorado 'you are in the vicinity of a State Penitentiary, do not stop for hitchhikers '. So don't do that :)

Oops!

Ya i could never get my card to work either at any pump, or even at some shops. Always had $$$ on me luckly enough.

mikeecho

The exchange rate is horrendous at the moment.. I wouldn't be going to the US .

Glaceon

I must be in the minority, I used an An Post Money Mastercard (credit card) at a pay at pump gas station in Pennsylvania a few weeks ago and it was fine. 😊

cj maxx

As others have said, stick to speed limits near built up areas

Muppet Man

Agree on the gas pumps. Would never take a visa debit or credit card.

Also do NOT try to humour a state trooper if you get pulled over. They have zero tolerance for irish Craic and are not known to smile.

Finally, got stopped by cops in New Hampshire who tried to explain to me that my Irish drivers license was not valid to drive in the state of NH. I was told to leave the rental car at the side of the road and get a taxi home. That took some serious negotiating and even used google to get out of that one. Some cops are genuinely poor at knowing the law.

Good luck

Muppet man

towger

Despite all the points above and all are true….. it actually is generally very pleasant driving there, especially out of the cities.

Damien360

Every car I ever got on rental in the US has the god awful one extra magnified wing mirror which I could never get used to.

For the 4 way cross roads, I found it easier to count my place in the queue. So if you are the fourth car to arrive, don’t go before your turn but you had better go when expected to. The vast majority seem to obey the etiquette of the junction.

I found the average driver to be pretty poor at observation skills. Lane discipline is rubbish on 2 lane turn junctions. Maybe it’s due to the average massive car size. Nobody beeps in anger though !

None of the cars had wireless CarPlay (rate enough here also) so bring the 2 different USB cable types so you can connect your phone for google maps. Last Honda I had used a USB-C type for my phone. SatNav seems to be a thing of the past so expect to use your phone.

Pay for a eSim for your phone before leaving so you can have data. They are relatively cheap and considerably cheaper than getting a big data bill from your travels.

As said above, parking spaces are laughably huge.

Neilw

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119539135#Comment_119539135

And don’t write off the rental leaving the rental compound, right Del 🤣

Whocare

Thanks for those tips didn't know about 4way stop same with pedestrian crossing 🚸 ect

mikeecho

Most important.

Enjoy the ride

bazz26

While it might feel daunting at first it's actually easy enough to drive over once used to it. Just enjoy it and try and rent something a bit interesting. If your lucky you might get a free upgrade from the rental company.

northknife

If its a rental you have, take plenty of pictures of the car before you leave as a couple of vehicles I've picked up have been well scratched and dented. These were from the big rental companies.

You'll find yourself going to the passenger side of the car after you've parked up for a while 😬

chicorytip

Rent a Toyota Prius if you can otherwise your fuel costs could be enormous if you intend doing high miles. No diesel, small petrol engined or manual transmission models available to hire.

Whocare

Definitely will be doing lots driving what is gas ⛽ prices in us I'm hoping it not much more than dollars a liter . Definitely shame about exchange rate and is cash still king in us or like Ireland contactless cards etc in most places

Glaceon

When I was in Pennsylvania last month it was at about $4.40 a gallon but had dropped to near $4.20 by the time I left.

bazz26

Life's too short to be renting a fecking Prius.

h3000

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119540296#Comment_119540296

Ah when in Rome and all that...... This is what you need. 6.2 V8

10-10-20

Don't, under any circumstances, hand over a physical card when paying for fuel. Insist on holding the card and transacting at the counter and always use a pin. I got my card cloned a few times in 2019 just by slight-of-hand at the till. Cloning a card is the quickest and most efficient work-practice at any forecourt, everything else takes ages.

Don't forget to leave the toll-road to pay the tolls. On the toll between Orlando and Cape Canaveral (FL-528), for example, you have to leave the main road to go through a toll-booth about five times and each toll is between 50c and $2.50. But has to be done!

If you get stopped by a state trooper then take it really seriously - hands on wheel, ask for permission to remove hands... etc. If you get stopped by a county cop, then it's more relaxed but still ask for permission, etc.

h3000

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119540917#Comment_119540917

I normally get a Toll Tag when I hire a car over there. You do overpay but it takes away a huge amount of hassle.

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119539452#Comment_119539452

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3JrbIHlCnc

It's shocking how little some American cops know, particularly in states that don't see many non US citizens.

BraveDonut

If using your phone as a satnav download your maps in advance to save on data usage.

Try to search for your destination in advance while on wifi and then you can call it up from recent destinations in the car.

I've always found the HERE WeGo app great for this as you can dowload entire states

If you can use data, Waze is heavily used and is great for traffic updates

mikeecho

If you're going to depend on your phone for navigation.. just be aware that there can be massive areas with no cell coverage.. heck, lots of areas don't even have FM radio, that's why a lot of cars have satellite radio.

towger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119549441#Comment_119549441

NavMii is also a good navigator app where you can download maps for free in advance if you don’t have enough roaming data to use WAZE

10-10-20

Waze needs a network link just to start up - at least mine does. Google Maps does not and should work as long as the maps are cached.

Whocare

Anyone have any recommendations for car hire place that hire nice camaros and the like

the14thwarrior

in general, there is always an exit and on ramp each side of the road i.e. if you get off one can get back on another (not like ireland).

plenty of truck stops, etc. to refill and eat etc.

i find USA drivers more agressive, there'd be nothing like a double flash to say thanks etc. everyone always in a hurry

roads usually very good. signs as well.

Glaceon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119550927#Comment_119550927

In Google Maps I downloaded the maps for the areas we’d be travelling to before we left. Worked fine and could even calculate routes without phone service. It just didn’t give live traffic info or updated routes of course.

bazz26

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119551128#Comment_119551128

Just be aware the boot in the Camaro is comiclally small if you have any sort of luaguage or a big suitcase. Also visibility out of them is very restrictive and most of them on the rental fleet are the sedated v6. The v8 SS that H3000 had earlier is a different beast, it's rarer as a rental car and those that are tend to be a good bit more expensive to hire. Maybe DM him and ask who he rented that from.

The Dodge Challenger is worth looking for too, they have more interior room and boot space than a Camaro and feel more old school muscle car in design and the v6 is a bit quicker than the Camaro. If you can find a v8 then it's even better.

Mustages are the same, most on hire tend to be the 4 cylinder Ecoboost with the odd v8 costing way more to rent. It can really depend on what part of the country your renting from too. Southern states like Texas tend to have more SUVs and pickup trucks on hire than muscle cars as they are more popular there. Other than SUVs and pickup trucks they just tend to have mundane saloons from Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai, etc.

I used National Car when I was there because my company were paying for it. I signed up to their Emerald Club membership which was free (at the time), that allowed me to a free upgrade to the next grade of car that was hiring. It also allowed me to bypass the queues at the desk and just go straight to their carpark and pick my car. Usually the rental company has aisles of cars with each aisle full of cars from each of their rental grade. The attendant just scanned the barcode on my phone from my rental agreement email and then directed me to the correct aisle you could pick any car from. All the cars were unlocked with the key on top of the dashboard ready to go. You got in and then drove out to the exit where another attendant scanned your licence and a barcode on the windscreen (so that you didn't take the wrong type of car you paid for) and then raised the barrior to exit. I'm sure the other rental companies are setup similarly as they are masters when it comes to convenience.

The J Stands for Jay

..

NSAman

One major thing that has not been coveted, if you see a cop car with flashing lights pulled over, pull into the next lane over. In many states you WILL be fined for not pulling over. This also applies to breakdowns.

Driving in the States outside major urban areas is a breeze. American drivers are notoriously **** drivers. Always look in your mirrors and anticipate what’s going to happen.

speed limits are discretionary, 5 above is fine, 10 above is not… unless you are impeding traffic and then go with the traffic speed….eg.. Chicago i90 is posted 70…everyone does 80 and in Chicago up to 90😀

10-10-20

Oh - It's the oddest thing but the school-bus stopped with flashing warning lights - do NOT overtake it in EITHER direction. Just pull in and wait.

h3000

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119551128#Comment_119551128

I got the Camaro 2SS with Hertz. It was part of the Hertz Adrenaline Collection. I got a great deal at the time €310 for six days with zero excess insurance. As Bazz said the Camaro can be a little hard to see out of when pulling out into traffic but it's such a nice car to drive. The rear view 'mirror' on the one I had was actually a screen that displayed the image from a camera on the back of the car, that helped with the visibility. The boot is a bit small but there is room on the back seats too, I was traveling on my own for work that trip so it didn't bother me.

I got the choose the category rather than the car. The possible options were the V8 versions of the Mustang, Challenger & Camaro. I was lucky as it was the Camaro that I wanted.

Whocare

Back from USA and few tips I can give anyone who going there

As previous said I definitely noticed people avoid road rage if possible even beeping is avoid I noticed few times I forgot you can turn right on red car behind never beeped

Plus too hire car insurance is complete different in USA. enterprise for example there Insurance cover even with top cover is only 300.000 sixth and hertz national is 1 million and that top cover you can get with them. So if driving in USA a DashCam is essential in my eyes one crash in USA involving personal injury claim by a third party could destroy you and every second billboard on the roads was for lawyers . Plus some state in USA are non fault insurance state which means even if someone crash into you claim off your own insurance cover which is mad

Went hiring car get one with toll box

Definitely bring some cash with you as well as found sometime credit card won't work in some places

whippet

I did about 3000 miles over the summer in California. Had a Ford Explorer - it was thirsty a hell and so underwhelming to drive. Handled like a pig .. but in the 4 seat (2 captain seats in the back) it was very comfortable for passengers and had loads of luggage space.

I had a T-Mobile sim in the phone for data and I only came across the odd black spot for mobile coverage and that was when we were way off the normal track (long story as to why we had to go there).

Once you have a bit of confidence there is little or no difference to driving here ... 4 way stops are common in suburban areas (and in the centre of San Diego). I couldn't get an card to work at the pumps so just prepaid in the shop. Around LA and San Fran a couple of times when we were in the shop someone had tried to open the doors of the car - staff are usually looking out for it but make sure you lock the doors every time.

I didn't really come across too many aggressive drivers and the honk of the horn tends to be used not for rage but almost as a polite reminder to keep moving.

Its really uncommon for anyone to reverse park, but spaces are massive so driving in is simple.

I found a lot of roadworks were going on and reduced speed limits - with double fines .. so need to keep the wits about you as some drivers will hit the anchors in front of you while others will just plough on

zg3409

Firstly drive on right. It might seem obvious but every time you start the car, after lunch, turn at a quiet junction park up there is a serious chance of driving on wrong side even for a short period. This risk is there dozens of times a day and can be deadly.

The pedestrians getting a green light to cross when cars get a green light is common in Germany too and other countries. It eliminates the whole no one moving while pedestrian lights are green.

Bring a phone holder sucker mount. Bring a cigarette lighter to usb power adapter. As others have said roaming data can be crazy expensive even for Google maps so consider an old sat nav with USA maps, or a local SIM. Hired sat navs from car hire companies can be more expensive than buying one, and often they are low quality. Try get the gps co ordinates of each place you need to go as address search can be hit and miss.

As others have said quality of driving can vary a lot and don't beep anyone unless you are sure they are not armed! Speed checks everywhere.

JL555

Pretty much everything covered by all the posts I think. Can't stress enough how many cops there are on the roads. If driving on the open roads, state to state, enjoy it, but try not to break the speed limit.

If you're going to be on long drives, try get a comfortable SUV (unless you've already booked your car, but you could always upgrade) you won't regret it. Last couple of times I went, I bought a US SIM card with unlimited data, AT&T I think. amazon uk have them and their all ready when you land, just have it in your phone / iPad and away you go, it's a life saver on long drives over there.

BArra

for data if your phone supports e-sim, see here, much handier than having to pickup a new sim-card stateside

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058242259/airalo-e-sim-for-data-when-travelling-non-eu#latest

BailMeOut

HereWeGo for SatNAV (using offline maps downloaded before you depart).

Just bring your own screen / vent mount for your phone.