driving in the usa

soultaker

soultaker

soultaker

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hi guys will be staying in a villa next year in kissamee for 2 weeks so will need a car, but i am already bricking it because of driving over there, steering wheel on the opp side, driving on the opp side, 6 lanes,turning right on a red light or is it left,:( i don't have a problem with the cars being automatic, so basically whose drove whilst there, any tips or thoughts, horror story's welcome:)
thanks in advance
 
takes about 10mins to get used to, big slow roads and all signs are in plain English so its a piece of cake
 
When I drove in the USA last year I was bricking it, not least because I was in control of a 420bhp Corvette.

My advice is to read a few guides online as these will give you the basic differences in road rules and manners. I would try to drive somewhere quiet first to build your confidence and to get used to the car.

I never totally felt comfortable driving as I only had the car a day, however I felt a lot better than I did initially. I am sure it will become easier over the two weeks and towards the end you will not even think about it.
 
Don't be watching any episodes of Road Wars before you go. The amount of clips ive seen showing multiple car pileups from cars on the hardshoulder with a cop car behind it with the blues on is just scary. :eek:
 
I've driven probably 3500 miles in the USA. As already mentioned, it's dead easy. For one thing, unless you're in a big city, most drivers are fairly chilled and polite. Go enjoy the scenery, some of it is awesome.
 
have you driven an automatic before ?

a lot of hire cars there are automatic, it threw me for the first day as i worked out how they were different from manuals as i'd never driven on before.

Key differences if you havent:

You must put your foot on the brake before changing from Park to Drive
You do not need to touch the accelerator for slow speed manovreing - automatics creep forwards automatically
When you get to the lights, just put your foot on the brake , you dont need to go into park.
 
As above, give it 15 minutes and you will be cursing the American drivers for getting in your way and making mistakes.

Worst part for me was the very first time driving over there was after a 12 hour flight to LA then contenting with 6 lanes of rush hour traffic on the I405! Never looked back after that.

I have now clocked up 3000 miles or so over there with anouther 2500 to come this year, and there really is nothing to it, there are a few things that they do differently but just have a read up.

Points I would suggest you look up would be:

Right turn on red / Pedestrians right of way if there is a crossing on that junction.
Intersections with stop signs (first to arrive is first to go).
Drivers flashing at you will normally mean they are coming through not giving way to you.
Petrol stations are a bit odd, you need to prepay for fuel, then they refund you if you have overpaid, as our cards don't work in the pumps.
Might be worth reading up on how Valet parking usually works and validated parking.
Only other thing I can think of at the moment, is Florida has a toll based road network (turnpike) Nothing to it really and there is always a manned booth so you can pay with notes if you have no change.
 
Americans dont drive like we do, we drive a and maneuver a lot quicker than they do, be it changing lanes, getting away from the lights, or braking.

Just slow everything down a bit and remember none of them are paying any attention at all to what they are doing and you will be fine.
 
It's pretty easy if you are a generally confident driver. The driving style is very relaxed outside of major cities (and even they are rarely anything worse than a town centre in the UK). In my experience people will move off slowly, skip the lights a bit, not get angry, let you out if you are waiting and most drive within 10 MPH of the speed limit (above or below).

The only thing worth checking is whether there are any particular rules for that state. When driving in Michigan, for example, you need to be aware of the 'Michigan Left', as it's known. It's quite logical, but knowing in advance helps! Especially as you can sometimes turn left on red in Michigan, like in many other US states (in addition to the common right turn on red).

EDIT: One other thing. Unless you are in California, stop at stop signs. In CA you can get away with a rolling stop, but anywhere else they will enjoy writing you a ticket!

EDIT2: Traffic lights. Flashing red lights means it is acting as a stop sign i.e. stop, proceed with caution. Flashing amber means proceed with caution, but no need to stop. At quiet times you might find an intersection between a major and a minor road, with the major road having flashing amber and the minor road flashing red. It's basically be aware that people from the minor road may be pulling out, and for the minor road it's basically stop and give way to traffic on the major road.
 
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i have not had many problems with cards in petrol pumps, unless they ask for a zip code i have never had an issue.
 
As others have said, it doesn't take much getting used to at all.

First time I drove in the USA, I took over from my mate after we'd stopped for fuel. I had to turn right coming out of the petrol station... that was a minor head scratching moment, as you need to turn immediate right, not cross the other lane then turn right, as we do over here.

After that, it was really straightforward.
 
Sone said:
i have not had many problems with cards in petrol pumps, unless they ask for a zip code i have never had an issue.
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I think they must be becoming increasingly common. I always give it a go, but most of the time they've needed a zip. I guess I'm always heading to the big brand name stations, so maybe that explains it.
 
PMKeates said:
I think they must be becoming increasingly common. I always give it a go, but most of the time they've needed a zip. I guess I'm always heading to the big brand name stations, so maybe that explains it.
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havn't road trip'd since jan09 so you are probably right :(
 
[TW]Fox;16559526 said:
Can you not just use your Hotels zip code?
Click to expand...

No, it validates it against the card address, I guess because they don't have chip and pin. I tried 90210 and it didn't work :D
 
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