Ray_li

A mate is planning a road trip in America in a hired Ford Mustang. What happens if he gets caught speeding with his UK licence?

SJ_Skyline

Pack some vaseline

Patt@firstime

'bite down on this son, it'll help....'

Markus

Depends on where he's going to be.

One of my co-workers was caught speeding in the US, and he presented his UK licence and they fined him and gave him a court appearance, he then got a suspended sentence!

Really depends on how quick you're going and what kind of mood the officer is in.

One major thing, if you're stopped, do NOT, I repeat, do NOT get out of the car, or reach for ANYTHING. Sit there with your hands on the steering wheel until the copper approaches, when he asks for ID etc, if it's in the glovebox or somewhere other than in visible sight, *ask* the officer if you can get it.

I've had a friend, who has been pulled from his car and handcuffed because, on being stopped, they leaned over and opened the glovebox to get their documentation. The cops thought they were reaching to pull out a weapon, so acted a bit sharpish.

As usual, be polite, explain you're from the UK and you're sorry for speeding. They might let you off with a slapped wrist, then again, they might fine you.

rallyfan1977

I've driven fairly extensively throughout the USA, and in my experience, unless you're driving waaaay over the limit, or speeding in an urban environment, the highway patrol hear the British accent and just issue a caution - at worst you'll get a fine, payable to the local law enforcement office.
If you're caught doing a massive amount over the limit, they may have you appear before a judge, in which case see the comments above (think large fine)
Remember that if you are banned from driving, that ban is normally only for the state in which you attend court.
At no point can US authorities put points on your UK license.
In all my travels across the US, I have only been fined once, that was in Georgia, on the 287 (Think Atlanta's M25) for doing 94 in a 55 during rush hour. I got a fine of $190
I would advise that your friend gets a radar detector, the best he can afford (a valentine 1 or a top level escort works really well in the US) as the Highway Patrol like to hide (especially over slight brows on long straights)

Hope this helps

Derek

GC8

"...that's a pretty mouth boy!.."

Patt@firstime

euggghhh - PMSL

Jerome

I second what Markus said about staying in the car and keeping your hands on the wheel. Also about getting out your licence very slowly and carefully.

Although rare, on some very remote roads, people have been known to shoot the Highway Patrol officer rather than get a ticket (good chance of getting away with it I presume). Consequently, in these places, the police are very cautious when pulling people over. In one such area a few years ago, a British journalist was pulled over by 2 cars, each carrying several officers. They blocked him in then jumped out of their cars all pointing their weapons at him and screamed at him to get out of the car. He had to slowly get out of the car, with his hands up, and then get on the ground - all the while with numerous guns pointed at him (and we know how trigger happy the Yanks can be!). He was told in no uncertain terms that, when on the floor, if he moved they would "blow his fecking head off". Only once he had been roughly handcuffed and frisked, were they interested in finding out who he was. On seeing his UK licence they immediately lightened up, unhandcuffed him and let him on his way with a warning to slow down. Bloody scary experience though.

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

*Sings*

AMERICA, FU*K YEAH!!!

NS04

Markus

Jerome,
Sounds like Jane and Finch on good night lol

Very scary experience that, shows that you have to be very careful around this gun toting nutters

It's probably also worthwhile reading up on the US equiv of the highway code. For example, if you see a stop sign you MUST stop, all four wheels must stop rotating, if you dont and a donut eater stops you then you'll be fined for a "moving violation"

I have a feeling there are also different rules for differnt states as well.

Markus

NS04 - Oh god, please don't! I've just got that bloody song out of my head! Rosie keeps singing it too!

Ray_li

what if you dont pay the fine and show up in court then bugger off home after the holiday?

Markus

Well, if you ever visit that state again and get pulled over, you might find there is an outstanding warrant for your arrest for unpaid fine and/or failure to appear in court.

Another thing to bear in mind, if you commit an offence in a US state that has a border with Canada, and you decide to either skip over to Canada, without paying fines or going to court, then you should be aware that there tend to be reciprical (sp?) agreements in place between the police forces. I know a few of the toronto chaps have had tickets in michican, and skipped over the border, then been stopped at some point, by the OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) and they found the outstanding fine and they have enforced it.

If you're never going back to the US then you could possibly get away with it, but I'd rather not risk it. Remember, when entering the US you're asked about criminal charages, if it was found that you said you did not have any, and then it pops up about this ticket (doubtful, don't think they cross reference things, could be wrong though) then you'd be refused entry to the US for quite some time, if not for life.

Poor Guy

could do what Clarkson did and fly home.

Poor Guy

damn you Nat! lol

Ray_li

:rofl: sounds like a plan

Humanzee

Best plan is, dont get caught

Jerome

LOL - too true!

Ah yes, they can be extremely **** about this - a favourite reason for them to pull you over in the first place.

Correct. In some states you can turn right on a red light, in some, you can't.

Another thing, some of them have radars in their patrol cars that can get you coming towards them. I was in a taxi that was pulled in this way.

As for not paying tickets, I personally wouldn't risk it if I ever planned on going to North America again.

RON

I recently returned from the Colorado/nevada/california area, saw plenty of police/sherrifs/highway patrol cars, and on the raods in general, pretty much most of the traffic seemed to bedoing about 10mph over the posted limit without concern, so that should be safe-ish.
Needless to say, I was quite relieved to hand the car keys back after my first time in the US, and driving 3810 miles to boot.... not that i counted or anything!!

SJ_Skyline

Be careful - if you abscond you may end up with "Dog the bounty hunter" after you!

Markus

lol @ Rich. It's not Dog you have to worry about, it's his wife! Yikes!

TheBigMan

http://www.james-bond007.de/assets/images/09a00320.jpg

"you're not gonna........" ??!?!?

I SHHUURREE AM BOOOY!!!

zoomzoom

1) All cops will either be the equivalent of Boss Hawg or Andy Griffith, some are both.

2) 5 over the speed limit won't get you much attention, you might be able to pass w/ 10 on backroads and interstates. Stay at the speed limit in town.

3) Carry atleast $150 in cash. If you get pulled over in some places, you cannot leave until your ticket is payed.

4) If you see a Camaro with the lights flashing, just pull over. Its faster than you, don't even bother.

5) Most police cars are Ford Crown Vic's or Mercury Grand Marquis. If you see either of these in plain black or white, slow down. About half of them are unmarked police cars.

6) If you're in the South East, be wary, we don't have too many foreigners from anywhere, including other parts of the US. So if you're pulled here, tone down your accent some.

7) Right side of the road. You should already know that one

Leslie

Why not drive sensibly and dont get caught. Seems to be the resulting hassle is just not worth the candle.

Les

scooby-si

ray will be going over there just for this

Redkop

Paul_M

A bit like the UK then - "failure to comply with a stop sign" carries 3 points and a fine (probably £60). It's just that over here there are no traffic cops left to enforce it, and they haven't yet worked out how to implement "stop sign cameras" yet

I too will be going to the US next week, and I'm picking up a Mustang in California then dropping it off and flying to Vegas and picking up another hire car there to drive down to the canyon etc. Should be fun, as long as I can control my right foot

Ray_li

Bring it on

john_s

iTrader: (1)

When I was over with my mate, we got stopped for doing about 80 in a 65 limit in Wisconsin. Cost my mate about $200 i think. The state trooper just looked at his licence, asked how he wanted to pay the fine, took his credit card details, told him what he had to do if he wanted to appeal (court appearance about 2 weeks after we left the US), radioed it in, and let us carry on once it had been processed.

Suffice to say, we prety much stuck to speed limits the rest of the trip.

John.