www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/thousands-of-british-holidaymakers-heading-for-halfterm-holidays-in-florida-face-arrest-after-sudden-law-change-8494813.html
the Foreign Office has warned holidaymakers heading to Florida that anyone planning to rent a car in the state must hold an International Driving Permit (IDP).
"....police who encounter British motorists driving illegally have two options: “Arresting the driver and taking him/her to jail, or giving the driver a citation with a mandatory court appearance.”
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There's a massive thread about on The Dibb, a forum for people who like a good panic - most posts are written in the style of your thread title!
On PistonHeads, there's a guy from Florida whose daughter is a Sheriff's Deputy and the daughter said this is complete non-issue. She didn't even know about it until he told her.
It's reckoned the law has just been badly written - an IDP is a scrappy bit of paper with the same info on it as is on your driving licence - it was never meant to affect licences that are written in English. It also contradicts Federal law.
Last edited by: Bill Payer on Thu 14 Feb 13 at 21:06
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I am only the messenger who has IDPs for many decades.
It was not the DM report so I assumed the Foreign Office quote was for real.
No panic I have no plans for visiting Florida :-)
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Driven in most every continent, never had an IDP.
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looks like a co*k up to me. The IDP is no more than a translation of the driving licence. Not really much use between English speaking nations.
Only ever driven in Europe my self and UK licence already includes translation of basics into all material EU languages.
IIRC my Dad had one forty years ago as (along with a bail bond) it was required in Spain but not France.
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>>Driven in most every continent, never had an IDP.
>>The IDP is no more than a translation of the driving licence.
>>an IDP is a scrappy bit of paper with the same info on it as is on your driving licence -
An IDP has a photo on it which a scrappy bit of paper that is waved as a driving licence doe not have. A very important difference.
I would not have driven in Libya or Saudii Arabia without one even though I was probably not insured :-(
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I've had one before for driving in the Middle East, can't say I ever needed no doubt there's loads of people that haven't got them and come to no harm.
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It's a newspaper!
'Never let the facts get in the way of a good story'.
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>> It's a newspaper!
>>
>> 'Never let the facts get in the way of a good story'.
>>there's a guy from Florida whose daughter is a Sheriff's Deputy and the daughter said this is complete non-issue. She didn't even know about it until he told her.
Take your pick - who to believe ?
•The State of Florida has suspended enforcement of a recently introduced driving law requiring non-resident drivers to be in possession of an International Driving Permit and a UK driving licence. Following the change, a valid UK driving licence, or licence issued by another foreign government or US State, is the only requirement for driving a car in Florida.
Who says so ?
www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/north-central-america/united-states
So it was all a newspaper story and ?
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If you have a plastic modern British driving licence with a photo you are legelly correct and will be ok in thee end. But the international permit thingy has a bigger photo.
Perhaps some US cops are short-sighted but vain as well as being not great readers. Every little helps.
I once photographed a bushy-tailed nipper playing in the gutter nearby in Chad. A teenage secret policeman surged up and told me it 'wasn't normal' to photograph little boys in the street. He was accusing me of being a nonce tourist (and this in the early 1980s before any of the hysteria)!
I trumped him with a bit of paper covered with official stamps and signed by the chief of police and the ministers of Information and more importantly the Interior, saying I could film or photograph whatever I liked in the capital and its province, so there. He withdrew baffled, heh heh. Cheeky sod. But that sort of thing can blow up into real trouble if you aren't properly organised. I know people it's happened to.
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Need one in Kuwait in the 70s/80s prior to getting your residence permit, other than that it proved useful when my driving licence was stolen days before a US holiday; AA were able to issue a IDP as they could access the DVLA records. In the end wasn't required in the states as my information was on the car hire firm's database, and they didn't even ask to see the licence.
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Off to Florida in early March, do I, don't I?
It's only £5.50 by post (plus £2.50 postal application handling fee!!), or I can travel a fair distance (costing more in fuel, time and parking) to one of the few post offices who can do it for £5.50 (www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/overseas/apply-for-an-idp-at-a-post-office.html ). Then there's the cost (and inconvenience) of getting the required photo.
While there is what appears to be an unambiguous statement on the official web site that they are effectively suspending the rule, www.flhsmv.gov/IDP.htm I read on another forum that some hire companies are insisting on seeing your IDP before letting you have the vehicle (It says Hertz and Avis will not rent out a car without the IDP but Alamo and Dollar will rent them out and don't want to see an IDP)
It's just been on the Beeb breakfast show...
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 15 Feb 13 at 10:13
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If you're going to be out there more than once, or have a morning free on your trip, I'd strongly suggest that you simply take the American driving test. Each state is slightly different (you can download their equivalent of the Highway Code for free) and you can take the test in a hire car.
This has a number of advantages:
1. Hiring a car is cheaper (or at least it is with Hertz).
2. You have a form of photo ID that will be accepted everywhere (I've had my PASSPORT rejected as valid ID in bars).
3. American police won't look confused when they pull you over.
4. You might be a safer driver on US roads.
It's cheap too; I think I paid about $40 in Arizona. I suppose that potentially you have another license to surrender for speeding in Europe at that point too!
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1/ not the case
2/ you have to suffer dealing with the local DMV people where you will find the very worse service ever known to man
3/ They will still treat you like a criminal
4/ Coming from the UK you will be a better driver than any american.
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>> 1/ not the case
>>
>> 2/ you have to suffer dealing with the local DMV people where you will find
>> the very worse service ever known to man
>>
>> 3/ They will still treat you like a criminal
>>
>> 4/ Coming from the UK you will be a better driver than any american.
>>
1. Was for me.
2. Your mileage may vary. Took me a morning and was completely painless. If you don't want a license you can get an ID card which is easier to cart around than a passport.
3. Yeah, thinking back can't disagree.
4. Naturally, but America has some little laws with nasty consequences if broken.
I think you could just give the hotel address. Just put 0000000 for the national insurance number.
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Not as easy as it used to be.
To get a drivers license in most US states you now have to have a Social Security number or complete an affidavit that you don't have/are not eligible for one.
You also have to prove "Lawful Presence" which is checked with Homeland Security.
For "Temporary Visitors" the license expires with your entry permit.
Simply not worth the hassle unless you're going to be there for longer than a few months.
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More than that, you may well raise a red flag *because* you have one.
US Security does not like "unusual".
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>> If you're going to be out there more than once, or have a morning free
>> on your trip, I'd strongly suggest that you simply take the American driving test.
Can you really do that without an address in the US?
It's only cheaper for Americans to hire cars as their own car insurance covers hire cars.
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Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
Statement from DHSMV on International Driving Permits
During the 2012 legislative session, the Florida Legislature amended section 322.04, Florida Statutes, to require visitors from outside the United States to have an International Driving Permit in order to drive lawfully in Florida. This change took effect Jan. 1, 2013.
It has come to the Department’s attention that this requirement may violate the Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (1949), an international treaty to which the United States is a signatory. Treaties to which the United States is a party preempt state laws in conflict with them.
Therefore, the Florida Highway Patrol will defer enforcement of violations of the amended statutory section until a final determination of the alignment of the amendment with the treaty can be made. Non-resident visitors to Florida who wish to drive while here will be required to have in their immediate possession a valid driver license issued in his or her name from another state or territory of the U.S. or from their country of residence. However, the FHP will not take enforcement action based solely on the lack of an International Driving Permit.
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So, being a bit on the thickish side of thick, how tough is it to get an international driver's permit?
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fill in a form, write a check and wait 5 days.
www.theaa.com/getaway/idp/motidp002.html
Last edited by: No FM2R on Fri 15 Feb 13 at 18:45
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...or while you wait from main post offices.
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Legislation about to be rescinded and some people who have bought IDPs in Canada will be getting refunds. Watch the press for fuller details and timing.
An IDP is a translation of an existing driver license into another language and has to be obtained in the home country.
The law reportedly was changed so that state law enforcement officials would not be faced with license documents in languages they could not read.
Now, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has learned that the amended state law may violate the Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (1949), an international treaty to which the United States is a signatory."
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>>The law reportedly was changed so that state law enforcement officials would not be faced with license documents in languages they could not read.
Seems totally reasonable to me and the Geneva Convention is clearly wrong. Hardly outrageous that you want to be able to read someone's licence.
Not the best implementation approach, but the target seems right.
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>> Seems totally reasonable to me and the Geneva Convention is clearly wrong. Hardly outrageous that
>> you want to be able to read someone's licence.
>>
I think you always needed one if your licence wasn't in English. They just badly drafted the ammended law.
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Its just another crack at the illegal immigrant (in Florida's case, Cubans) problem.
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BEWARE an IDP is a MUST for Florida from NOW. - Bill Payer
