driving in the usa

DKLS

Most of the decent hire places will either throw in Sat nav, or you can get it as an extra, well worth it, your not handy with a map.
And if you do get pulled for speeding, dont be a !!!!!! just smile and take the ticket. Especially in the southern states

wdyw

Engadine wrote: »

Driving in the States is great, I have driven in Florida including Orlando quite a few times. Roads are a lot better than here, no roundabouts, you can turn right on a red light if nothing coming.

With the right turn on red, just be a bit careful as some junctions at which you want to turn right will say "No turn on red" .... most you can though.

and roundabouts .... a post later on mentions them ...while there may be none in florida (never been there!), there are plenty up around Boston (they call them Rotarys) and they are "an experience".

Generally however, driving in the USA is very easy.

odd number roads go North/south (nominally)
even numbers east/west (as above!!)

zebidee1

One thing to remember....you MUST stop at a stop sign, even if there is nothing on the road at all. If you get stopped by the Police, you also must stay in the car.

My OH didn't...there was stop sign at a junction, the road was completely empty and he crawled round the corner at literally 1 or 2 mph. A police car appeared from way down the road and pulled him over. He opened the door to get out to talk to the Policeman (thinking he was being polite ) and the Policeman had his hand on his gun and yelled at him to get back into the vehicle. OH nearly wet himself.

The Policeman was pretty abrupt with him and gave him a bollocking about the stop sign. OH is dead quiet and polite and apologised straight away and was quite unnerved by the Policeman's attitude but I suppose they deal with lawbreaking tourists all the time and are fed up with it lol.

We thought he might just have got a warning but nope...he got fined and as it was the last day of our holiday, we didn't have time to wait for it to go through the system and we had to send dollars to pay the fine when we got back home.

The driving itself is easy though....mostly all straight roads.

Sheel

wdyw wrote: »

and roundabouts .... a post later on mentions them ...while there may be none in florida (never been there!), there are plenty up around Boston (they call them Rotarys) and they are "an experience".

There's at least one roundabout in Florida!

It frightened the life out of us when we first had to negotiate it as we didn't know it was there :eek:, it had been built since the last time we'd visited and it was totally unexpected!

dondo

asandwhen wrote: »

not driven in Florida but have driven in Las Vegas and it is very easy - infact i would say because of the road layout it is easier than the uk. Im going to new england in 3 weeks driving from new york to boston / cape cod.

We went to Cape Cod on honeymoon a couple of years ago- excellent place -really like it especially provincetown, falmouth and sandwich. Make sure you do some whalewatching!

hammy_the_hammer

i'd like to add that a lot of this info above can be different from state to state. the cardinal sin which hasn't been mentioned is not coming to a stop when a school bus has pulled up and has it's flashing lights on. you don't edge forward towards the bus , you stop even on the other side of a dual carriageway. breaking this rule is a really serious traffic offence

wanye

hammy_the_hammer wrote: »

you stop even on the other side of a dual carriageway. breaking this rule is a really serious traffic offence

eh?!?!?!?

can somebody clarify/explain this a little further?

are you saying that if a school bus is stopped, then all traffic must stop, even if it is going in the opposite direction on a dual carriageway?!?!

sorry, just a little nervous about driving over there for my first time later this year...

hammy_the_hammer

wanye wrote: »

eh?!?!?!?

can somebody clarify/explain this a little further?

are you saying that if a school bus is stopped, then all traffic must stop, even if it is going in the opposite direction on a dual carriageway?!?!

sorry, just a little nervous about driving over there for my first time later this year...

it's a minefield see individual states etc

http://www.geocities.com/jusjih/schoolbusstop.html

it sounds worse than it is . just more a case of being aware and upping the concentration when you see school buses / drive around start and finish times of schools

wdyw

hammy_the_hammer wrote: »

i'd like to add that a lot of this info above can be different from state to state. the cardinal sin which hasn't been mentioned is not coming to a stop when a school bus has pulled up and has it's flashing lights on. you don't edge forward towards the bus , you stop even on the other side of a dual carriageway. breaking this rule is a really serious traffic offence

You've opened a can of worms now and a lot of people are going to be paranoid!

In the vast majority of states you do NOT have to stop for a school bus that is stopped on the other side of a divided road - there are a few exceptions though!!!

For and undivided road the general rule of thumb is both directions stop, but there are a few states that do allow you to carry on (cautiously) depending on the number of lanes etc

update ... as Hammy says in his clarification post just above ...common sense is fine, if its an undivided road (ie no barriers between you and the opposing traffic, err on the side of caution and stop!

trets77

wdyw wrote: »

You've opened a can of worms now and a lot of people are going to be paranoid!

In the vast majority of states you do NOT have to stop for a school bus that is stopped on the other side of a divided road - there are a few exceptions though!!!

For and undivided road the general rule of thumb is both directions stop, but there are a few states that do allow you to carry on (cautiously) depending on the number of lanes etc

update ... as Hammy says in his clarification post just above ...common sense is fine, if its an undivided road (ie no barriers between you and the opposing traffic, err on the side of caution and stop!

Thats a new one on me, :eek: :eek: . i cannot ever remember coming across a school bus , but i will be looking out next time , as i did not know that. you have got me parnoid now , thinking have i ever done it and been reported for it .

each state seems to have it's own weird little rules ,like California you cannot mount a Sat Nav on the windscreen , or Maine where if you have t=your wipers on , you have to have your lights on too. :rolleyes:

Driving in the USA is much easier than UK IMO , bigger roads , lot less traffic outside of the big citys , .

The Turn Right on red takes a little practice ( you will probably get beeped to do it 1st time ), just remember that you can only turn if it is clear , nothing coming , or no one crossing the road in your path. like has been said before assume it is turn on right on red as the lights you cannot do it at are clearly marked.

other good tip for driving anywhere on the right is to remember that you as the driver should be nearest the center of the road , with the fron passenger nearest the Kerb.