US Survival Tips for Aussies

Road Travel

America is the Land of the Car. This is especially true on the West Coast where there is much more space between cities and towns (by US standards). I've heard that LA is composed of about 60% roads! The invention of drive-throughs was undoubtedly made in this country. As well as drive-in cinemas and drive through fast food, they also have drive through ATMs and even Weddings (in Las Vegas). Not to mention drive-by shootings!

• Obviously any Australians contemplating driving in the US will need an appropriate driver's licence. But what is appropriate? You might think that an international driver's licence may suffice. But if you also expect to hire a car in the US - you would be wrong! Car hire companies seem to regard these licences as useless pieces of paper. For them, at least, your Australian licence is more appropriate. So take both with you. Also if you stick around in the US long enough you will be obliged to have a local licence. Just like Australia, driver's licences are issued by the various states. So how long is "long enough" is determined by each state.
  
  
• Drink-driving rules, like many other rules, vary depending on the State you're in. But even in California, which has some of the strictest rules, they are not very tough compared to Australia. The BAC (blood alcohol content) limit is 0.08, there are no random breath tests, and if you actually do get pulled over you'd have to be pretty drunk to get arrested, because you'd have to fail tests like touching the tip of your nose and walking a white line.
  

  <...>the u.s. is definitely backward in this repespect <...> beers are unlabeled as to percent alcohol, so people are less able to tell how much alcohol they are consuming.<...> -- al klovdahl (Feb 1996)

  <...>Calif. still determines a presumption of being under the influence of alcohol with a BAC of 0.08. Although the sentencing has gotten tougher, we have not decreased the level. And the field sobriety tests are a little tougher than walking a line and finding your nose. Up here, (rural Northern California) anyway, the fine for a first time "deuce" (Drunk Driving conviction) tends to run about $2,000.00, there may be mandatory jail time, too, although I think that's only two days on a first offense.<...> -- Maralee Nelder-Adams (Feb 1996)

  <...>I think you underestimate how easy it is to get into trouble for drink/drunk driving in the US: <...>Just because you might not be inebriated enough to fail the tests, doesn't mean you won't get cited and lose your license. The police use those tests to weed out the VERY drunk. There are plenty of people without licenses today who knew exactly where their noses were!<...> -- Ted (Feb 1996)

  <...>I am an American living in Australia and the other big difference between the US and AU is that here in Australia you are allowed to drive with open alcohol containers in the car, which means you can drink and drive. Where as in the states they have a law which says that no one may have an open container at all.<...> -- Katie (Sep 2002)

  
  
• Seat belts come in a variety of formats apart from the retractable belts common in Australia. Some cars have the belt attached to the door rather than the pillar between the doors. While others have a track running along the length of the door that the belt automatically slides across when the door is opened. This can cause confusion when changing cars as the latter cars require you to open the door to automatically unbuckle wheras the former cars will strangle you if try to open the door without unbuckling. Also cars will beep at you if you don't put your seatbelt on.
  

  <...>regardless of seat belt type, many states have laws requiring their use. Most will not pull someone over on a seat belt violation but will add a costly surprise if you are pulled over for something else and are not wearing your belt. This is particularly true for children who are not in an approved safety seat! -- Karen Ahrens (Feb 1996)

  <...>actually the first country to mandate the wearing of seatbelts was Australia, initially in Victoria as I recall.<...> -- al klovdahl (Feb 1996)

  <...>in many states it is illegal to be in a moving car without wearing one. In most cases you will not be pulled over exclusively for this, but here in Illinois they are passing legislation to allow the police to do so. -- Rich Wellner (Feb 1996)

  
  
• When buying petrol read the signs. Many petrol [gas] stations require you to pay before pumping. Also most pumps usually have a lever that needs to be turned/lifted/flicked (or a button pushed) before the petrol flows.
  

  <...> A few states, including Oregon, have laws that forbid you to pump your own gas. <...> -- Len Rediske (Feb 1996)

  
  
• A right turn at a red light [signal] is legal (after coming to a complete stop).
  

  Louisiana allows a right turn on red *after a stop*. (However, you may be struck from behind if you do stop.) -- csvcjld (Feb 1996)

  
  
• The line markings on streets can be confusing for Australians. A solid white line across the middle of the road is not necessarily associated with a stop sign. Unless there is an accompanying Stop sign treat these as though they were pedestrian crossings.
  

  <...>in the u.s. PEDESTRIAN CROSSING MARKINGS IN THE U.S. ARE ESSENTIALLY MEANINGLESS. i think states like california are a bit more strict but to my knowledge (which may be out-of-date) pedestrian crossing rules are not built into driver laws/education in the same way as in Australia or the U.K. by the same token, in reality i am not sure how different it is in the middle of Sydney at 5pm on a weekday.<...> -- al klovdahl (Feb 1996)

  Not stopping at pedestrian lines constitutes a fine in the republic of Berkeley ( CA ) elsewhere as a pedestrian cross at your own risk. Berkeley is just a little bit different so be careful.  -- Marika (Jul 2003)

  
  
• Roundabouts are pretty rare. In their place are 4-way Stop signs. I'm told Washington DC though has many roundabouts.
  

  <...>I am orignally from California and you're right there aren't any out there. I now live in New Hampshire, and there are lots of these in New England though here they are called rotaries. Took a lot of getting used to!! <...> -- Lynn Fisher (Feb 1996)

  <...> Washington, DC does have a ton (heaps) of "roundabouts," which we commonly refer to as "traffic circles." It really doesn't matter what side of the road you approach them from, they're still a pain in the ass. <...> -- Ian C. Story (Feb 1996)

  
  
• Traffic Lights for making left-hand turns always have the 3 coloured lights red, amber and green as opposed to Australia where the right-hand turns sometimes have only amber and green. Also the American version will generally only have an arrow for the green light. The red and amber lights often have the usual solid round light.
  

  <...>Plus the lights tend to be strung across the street rather than on poles. <...> -- Justin Ridge (Feb 1996)

  
  
• Street names: you can be virtually guaranteed that you will find a street named after at least one US President in almost every town and city in this country. Many towns/cities use numbers (or letters) to name their streets. For example 1st, 2nd and 3rd Streets (or A Street). This makes things easy in most cases because the streets are sequentially ordered. But in one case (Vancouver, Washington) this did cause confusion. The streets there reach dead-ends at properties and then the same street continues on the other side of the property. Its as though a single road is broken into a number of road segments but still retaining the same name. Also, street numbering does not necessarily start from 1. So just because a house is numbered "34455 Main St." doesn't mean there are over 34,000 houses on that street.
  

  <...>the semi-standard layout of streets and avenues -the classic downtown grid- Streets and avenues generally run perpendicular to each other. A street will intersect avenues, but not streets. Also if the city is really organized, the address will tell you exactly where to go. For example, here in Minneapolis, a building at 350 4th Avenue is on 4th Avenue, halfway between 3rd and 4th streets. Of course there are places where it gets completely mixed up. There is a spot in Minneapolis where you can stand at the corner of Washington Avenue and Washington Avenue and give directions to Washington Avenue which is one block over. I lived on that corner for a year and I still don't get it.<...> -- Chris (Mar 1996)

  <...>There is not just a street- there is also North, South, East and West versions of the same street! Talk about easy to get lost!!!!<...> -- Becki (Sept 1996)

  <...>Why are the streets in Boston so meandering and confusing (not parallel,etc.)? Because the streets replaced the cow paths.<...> Some streets can be miles long with signs only at the very beginning and the very end. We have a tunnel that has one name in one direction and *another* in the other direction! <...>-- Kovacs, Andrea (Sep 2000).

  <...>In NSW, Australia some local governments have a rural road number system. Starts at beginning of road (which end is beginning??) and is measured in kilometers.eg 238 is 2.3 kilometers and the 8 means right side of road (evens) Odd numbers on left side. Handy for emergency services.<...> -- Les(May 2002)

  
  
• Crossroads: when giving directions (eg booking a taxi) you need to know the crossroads of the address. This is the names of the closest intersecting roads. For example Washington Street and 44th Street. This is generally shortened to "Washington and 44th".
  
  
• When renting cars they will try and sell you all sorts of car rental "insurance". From what I understand all this covers is the excess [the deductible]. If you're in the US long enough to buy your own car, you will have the option of getting car insurance that covers rentals. Also some credit cards (e.g American Express) cover the excess. Check with your credit card company about this, as hell will freeze over before car rental companies disclose this kind of information.
  

  The benefit of buying the insurance when renting a vehicle is that generally it covers everything. And even more important, if you DO happen to get in a wreck, your own insurance company will likely never hear about it. If your own insurance has to cover it, often the rates go up. If the rent-a-car company's insurance handles it, your own rates won't go up. It usually covers more than the deductible - full coverage.<...> -- HankoMarx (Feb 1996)

  <...>i believe rental cars essentially come with the equivalent of 3rd party. if you are in an accident and it is your fault (or if the other driver is uninsured - which can happen), then you may be responsible to the rental company for the cost of replacing the car, or at minimum a very significant 'excess' (that is why they may not enter an amount on your credit card when you get the car). if you take out their rental coverage policy (not the personal injury, insurance against getting hit by a meteorite, etc) then their iinsurance coverage relieves you of the liability (unless you have been drinking, etc).<...> -- al klovdahl (Feb 1996)

  
  
• Give Way signs are replaced by "Yield" signs.
  
  
• California has recently passed legislation allowing motorcyclist to once again ride with the wind in their hair. Many of the helmets currently in use would not pass the Australian Safety Standard. Some look like a cross between a stack hat and something you'd have seen in a WW1 trench.
  

  <...> The motorcycle helmets you're describing don't meet California or U.S. safety requirements either. They were part of a protest over the helmet law, but CHP wrote tickets and bikers paid fines (one went to jail) anyway. <...> -- Bryan Henderson (Feb 1996)

  
  
• Highway turns:

  <...>In some states, when driving on a two lane divided highway, you make a left turn by getting into the left lane and driving some distance past the intersection you actually wish to turn at, to a point where there is a turnaround lane. You use the lane to get back onto the highway going in the opposite direction, quickly move to the right hand lane, and complete your turn. So it is in effect going past your intersection, making a U turn at a designated point, and then coming back to the intersection. These are very common in the state of Michigan<...> -- Jack Decker (Mar 1996)

  
  
• Road speed:

  <...>in some parts of the country they take the speed limits very strictly, and in other parts grant much leeway. Check with local auto clubs or risk a stay in the gray bar motel!! <...> -- JOHN SAWITZKI (Feb 1996)

  <...>Generally you can do about 10-15 over the speed limit without much trouble on interstates, but ASK the locals. worst is PA -- 55 or else.<...>-- dgold01 (Feb 1996)

  <...>Don't try speeding in Massachusetts or Connecticut. Moving violations raises your insurance rates, via surcharges, for a number of years. If you get enough, you can lose your license<...> -- Kovacs, Andrea (Sep 2000).

  
  
• Cheap road travel:

  <...> best thing to do is chip in and buy a cheap car. (US $2,000 will get you a fine machine about 8-10 yrs old that you should not have to put much into). US made cars are most plentiful and cheapest to repair, Toyotas and Hondas are most reliable, w/ 250-300,000 K lives not uncommon. Check the local "Auto Trader" or classified section of the Sunday paper. <...>-- dgold01 (Feb 1996)

Road Travel Information at the Book Shop: click here for a list of books (etc) that provide further information on road travel in North America.

Avis Maps provides a comprehensive list of US Road maps.

Comments from Australian readers are in green whereas comments from American readers are in red. All other opinions expressed on this page are my own and accept no responsibility for any interpretations or uses made of these opinions.