Driving in the USA

[PCH]

Hey guys,

does anyone know for sure if your good old Aussie driving license is good for the USA?

I've checked online and they mention and international license being a great form of ID, but doesn't actually say whether you 'need' it or not to hire a car.

Anyone been recently and can tell me definitively one way or the other?

TIA :)

[RickS]

An Australian licence always works for me in the USA. I travel there at least a couple of times every year and rent a car on many of the trips.

Years ago a colleague of mine who spent a lot of time in the USA recommended against trying to use an International Drivers Licence there. He claimed that police in smaller towns can be suspicious of a document with foreign writing on it ;)

[casstony]

Australian licence is fine in the US. If you hire a car be sure to book and pay for it ahead of time to get a reasonable rate - if you walk through the door and hire one they'll charge a lot more.

It can be confusing at intersections regarding which side of the road you should be on - remembering that the drivers wheel should always be near the centre of the road helps.

[PCH]

Hey Rick and Tony,

thanks so much for the prompt help with my question.

I'll be sure to call ahead and pre-book it Tony - thanks for the tip mate :thumbsup:

Going on Saturday to NY and the surrounding New England states for 6 weeks. I'm really looking forward to it.

We did drive around California for a few weeks about 10 years ago, and the road rules with all their potential for confusion at intersections caught me by surprise a couple of times.

But all in all, it wasn't too bad. I'm just hoping I've still got all my marbles with me - lol

[GOTO]

All you need is an Aussie licence and you're good to go. I did it last month in Hawaii. I also did it in Oct 2013 and Oct 2012.
Cheers and have fun. Just remember that your seat as the driver is the closest to the centre of the road.
Geoff

[PCH]

Got it - thanks Geoff :thumbsup:

[dannat]

i think you are supposed to apply for a intl license -which is a piece of paper only -then you carry your aussie license with you, the intl license just states your aussie license is good in the US -i was only asked 1 for it whne in the US

[GOTO]

I forgot to mention you'll also need a credit card as they take a copy regardless of insurance level you select. As for the International licence, the only place I've been that INSISTS on it is Japan. No one else seems to care.
Geoff

[PCH]

Tony,

I meant to ask, is there any particular car hire company that you would recommend?

[casstony]

Not especially, just have to shop around. They're all merciless scoundrels in my experience.

[tlgerdes]

International drivers licenses are bunk for western countries at least. I am over here in the US now and am using my AU license with a hire car from Hertz.

When I was here in 2011, I even got pulled over by the police and just handed over my AU license with no problems (let off with a warning).

One of my contacts over here said any longer then 60 days and you have to apply for a local license, whether that is true or not I am not sure.

You WILL have one heart attack moment of driving on the wrong side, usually when turning left or right at an intersection. Just make sure it isn't busy. It will only happen once, just hopefully nothing ill happens during that moment. I am super cautious for the first 48hrs now, then settle right in.


Just be careful of all the add-ons they throw at you for insurance etc, most is also covered in your normal travel insurance. Just be aware if something happens though, and you haven't taken out "their" cover, you will have to stump up the cash (possibly a few thousand) and then claim it back from your travel insurance company. So sometimes double insurance is worth it.

Also it you are over here for more than a week, it is cheaper to go to Sears or Walmart and buy a cheap car GPS (around $60-80), than it is to hire one with your car (usually $15-$30 per day). I bought one 4 years ago on my first big driving trip here and have made use 4 other times since then on other trips to the US. Just plan your route from the hire car place to the nearest store in advance through google maps or something similar and print it off.

[Renato1]

It depends on which state you are going to do the driving in.

http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Foreign-Visitors-Driving.shtml

http://canberra.usembassy.gov/resources/all-faqs/travel.html#license

I know that in Italy for years no one seemed to care much whether I had an international license or not, till one night when a nasty cop pulled me over and asked me where it was (I'd left it home). I always have one just in case there is an incident and insurance issues arise (like the insurance company not paying out because I didn't have the proper license).

I'm told one weird thing about driving in the USA is when one comes to an intersection which has Stop signs on the face of the intersection, that is four Stop signs where we would only have two and a clear path for one road. Treat it like a roundabout.
Regards,
Renato

[38degsouth]

...my understanding of an International Drivers Licence (for Aussies) is that it's really only required when driving in a country where the national language is not English -my 2c worth ;)

[OzEclipse]

I've yet to need an international drivers permit but some car rental agreements warn you at time of booking that you need one. When you go to the desk in the country, they rarely if ever ask for one, certainly not in the USA. However they only cost $39 from motor associations RACV, NRMA etc. If you did happen to find the one place in the world where they insist on one, won't you feel silly. You can't get them in other countries.

an international drivers permit is not a license, it's a translation of your license into many other languages and is only valid in combination with your license. In the USA, they speak English (of sorts), and so it isn't required.

I've rented many cars in many other countries and around Australia.

I often use http://vroomvroomvroom.com.au to find rentals

It compares many major rental companies on the one site.

Check the insurance. Many companies rent the car to you with insurance with a $4000 excess. You then cam pay extra to reduce this excess. However, most travel insurance policies re-insure and cover that $4000 excess and if it's more, you can up the insurance. This is almost always much cheaper than buying excess reduction from the car rental company especially since you take out travel insurance anyway especially in the USA with the cost of medical treatment over there.

The catch is that if you have an accident, you have to be able to pay the rental company the $4000 excess until you settle your claim with the insurance company on your return.

enjoy your trip

Joe

[bugeater]

I used arguscarhire.com when I hired a car there last (4 years ago). Cheap and you could include all the insurance in the online price too (be careful - there are lots of different types and you probably want more than default). Of course if your credit card covers this, then you don't need it. Don't quote me on it but I think a key difference between what many offer and what you need may be the third party insurance, since I think in the US car insurance is tied to the person and not the vehicle, so most people already have this (my memory on the details is fuzzy though). I ended up with a car from Dollar which was fine.

On arrival after the long flight and no sleep I headed straight into LA traffic. Lets just say I drove straight for quite some distance :) My first experience on the freeways/parkways was.... invigorating :eyepop:

Oh and I think on 4-way stop signs you simply give way to whoever got to the intersection first (by which I mean to the stop line, not in a queue). Not like our roundabouts. At least this is what I was told in California by a local and this is how they seemed to work. Oh and on the two times I came across roundabouts I felt like an expert, since they simply don't understand them :)

[casstony]

That's correct; whoever arrives first at the 4 way stop signs gets to cross first - very disconcerting at first and very annoying to local drivers when the dopey Australian doesn't know when to go :).

To a Californian roundabouts are rides in parks or at a carnival - the things we drive around are traffic circles.

Driving in the US is much safer with two people in the car so the passenger can pick up the driver's mistakes (such as being on the wrong side of the road). If there's a panicked voice and flailing arms in the passenger seat you know something's amiss :)

[bugeater]

I recon we should impose our naming convention ;) - roundabouts probably outnumber traffic circles by thousands to one. I think I came across two in 3 weeks of driving on the West Coast. One in Minden, Nevada and one at the Marin Headlands next to the Golden Gate Bridge.

[gary]

This 2010 document by the Australian Automobile Association (AAA)
lists those countries where an International Driver's License is "required"
and those where it is only "recommended".

See http://www.mynrma.com.au/media/AAA_Handbook_Jun.pdf

Though the US Embassy in Canberra web site in its advice to
Australian visitors states "Some rental car agencies require an
international driver’s license as part of the agreement", as others
have anecdotally noted in this thread, I haven't been
asked for one there in recent years.
See http://canberra.usembassy.gov/resources/all-faqs/travel.html#license

Back in the day when Australian driver's licenses just being folded pieces
of paper with no photo ID, US rental companies may have asked for them then but I have
no immediate recollection. Many bars in the US require you to show a
driver's license for ID as a condition of entry and I recollect back in the
80's you would get a puzzled look from the person on the door when you
handed them a paper license with no photo on it and in the case of the
New South Wales license, not even the word "Australia" appeared on it
anywhere. :)

These days with the photo licenses and combined with the fact they are
in English, it is probably rare to be asked for one in the US. I rented
a car there last month and it was not a requirement to have one.

Last month I also rented a car in Cuba and though the national language
is Spanish, a NSW photo ID license, a passport and a credit card from a
non-US bank was all that was required to be given the keys to a car from
one of the state-owned companies.

In Australia, third party personal injury insurance is compulsory and you
cannot register a vehicle without it. Take note that in the United States
that the rental vehicle you hire may not have any inherent or adequate
third party personal injury insurance without taking out additional insurance.
Rental car insurance in the United States is a confusing area, For example,
this page is produced by Hertz and there is a dizzying array of acronyms -
https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/productservice/index.jsp?targetPage=USHowProtected AreYou.jsp

Think in terms of the liability involved in injuring a high-paid Hollywood actor
and their lawyer as a benchmark for the types of coverage that may be required.

[PCH]

Thanks to all who have supplied information.

Gary, you certainly get about a bit don't you ;). Thanks for the various links and I agree, there is a bewildering array of acronyms covering the various wavers etc.

What supplements or waivers do you generally take up Gary? I know from prior threads that you've driven around in the States frequently over the last few years, and I'm guessing you would know what's necessary as well as anyone.

I appreciate the help folks.

[gary]

As a Texan friend advised when renting a car there, "get full insurance". :)

On the trip last month, every three letter acronym that had to offer, I
asked what it was at the rental desk, listened patiently and ended up
taking just about all of them because they seemed prudent.

In that instance, when it was all done, it effectively doubled the base
rental price.

As I mentioned, definitely make sure you have adequate third party
injury damage. We jump into any registered car in Australia knowing
we have some coverage. The same is not automatically true in the United States.
Many Americans will have their own personal insurance policy so when they
jump into a rental car, their own existing policy already covers them for third
party injury. So not all Americans need to signature each of those
three letter boxes on the rental form. But many foreign visitors
will need to consider their liability carefully.

There are even catches like the rental insurance may not cover injury to
another family member in the car you are driving! (see the Hertz page
I cited for an example of that).

The United States is the land of litigation, fine print agreements and
eye-watering hospital bills.

In all parts of the world, the excess on a Collision Damage Waiver (CDW)
can be a gotcha. For example, say the excess is $4000. You think to
yourself, "I will drive safely". You come back to the car park and
someone has dented your car door with theirs and driven off. You look at
the dent and figure it will probably cost about $400 to repair. That may
be true but the rental agency will also charge you for the time the car
is offline for repair. If that comes to a week or two and based on their
nominal rental rates not the "discounted daily rate" you paid, your $4000
may be gone.

Have a great trip! :hi:

[bugeater]

This is where I found the Argus site to be quite good. At least when I used it you could include all the insurances in the quoted online price, which still turned out quite reasonable. None of the other booking sites allowed this, so you book the car and are still up for the very inflated insurances once you go to pick it up. Not that this stopped the rental company trying to up sell when I got there.... Note this was four years ago, so things may have changed.

I concur that the third party insurance issue is a minefield in the US and I would be very uncomfortable not having it.