gtijames

im going to florida on friday,i ve never driven abroad before and am quite nervous about the prospect,do any of the good people of scoobynet have any advice/tips/tales to tell about driving usa style.

cheers.

The Chief

You can turn right at junctions at a red light - unless stated

and make sure you never ever overtake a school bus if it starts to pull over

RA Dunk

buy a gun

Snazy

Driving out there is quite aggressive. Tailgating normal especially for changing lanes. Outside lane for longer journeys, inside lane approaching slip road (ramp) Undertaking not taken too seriously.
Highway speeds strictly monitored by troopers, many people speed, but if you get caught expect a grilling.



Serious though, no roundabouts, STOP at stop signs, 4 way junctions, are first arrive, first to go, and most of all, enjoy the free flowing LARGE roads.

Oh one more thing, keep 5-10 bucks worth of dollar bills and quarters in the arm rest of the car for occasional toll roads

But most of all.............. enjoy your trip

What you gonna be driving anyway ?

Paul3446

You soon get used to being on the other side of the road.

I think the most dangerous thing is when you've been there a few days and start to relax a bit, then come to a junction and look the wrong way to see what's coming. Always check both ways at junctions, then re-check!

Andy T

As above,all what I was going to mention, you will get used to it very quickly. My only **** up in 4wks of driving over there was to forget the handbrake occasionally, stupid automatic cars, this did get me stuck on Daytona beach once knobber !!! haha

Also yank cars steer by pitch and yaw, not left or right turning of the steering doobie

andys

exits on highways tend to be badly signed and very easy to miss.

gtijames

thanks for the advice guys
snazy im going to have some sort of american people carrier thingy,also its an automatic,having never driven an auto is something else to worry about lol.this driving thing is causing me more worry than the bloody wedding.

Leslie

You have to give priority to vehicle joining an interstate from a junction in front of you.

Les

Snazy

Auto cars are the norm out there, stick is rare really.
You will love it once you get used to it, but make sure everyone wears a seatbelt until you have gone for the clutch at least once lol. You will understand what I mean when you do it.

I love driving out there, missus will be driving for the first time this year in her Mustang convertible, while I drive my large SUV

Serious though, driving out there is easy, soon becomes second nature. Leaving the handbrake (e-brake) off is common too out there, as long as the car is in P (park) its fine. Which is why you see their cars rocking back and forth once they stop.... no e-brake being used.

You also tend to get a sheet with all the driving tips on when you get the car, spend 10 mins studying it, its worth doing

Other tips...

Same as uk, dont leave sat nav laying about (do get it though)
Make a habit of locking doors once all in.
Parking facing on coming traffic is an offence. You cannot cross a lane of traffic to park on the opposite side of the road (usually)

RichardS2005

Where abouts in Florida are you going - just got back from Orlando on Sunday?

gtijames

theres 20of us going weve got 3 big villas with pools,were staying at a place called calabray park,its near kissimmee.

B0DSKI

iTrader: (17)

I found it a great place to drive, nice big roads, loads of lanes, automatic gearbox, nobody ever seemed to be in a rush.

Make sure u have some spare change for the toll roads, they are anything from 50 cents to $1.25.
We stayed in Kissimmee and drove over 2500Miles in 2 weeks. Get a decent road map and you'll have no problems at all. The one funny thing i found was when it had been raining ( and the rain over there is nothing like u get here ) The Americans seemed to be quite fond of ditching they're cars off of the on ramps from the freeways. i guess they aint used to bends, and especially bends that are slik with rain.

austinwrx

I've driven 1000's of miles there- to be honest the only scary thing is the size of the trucks !!!!

oh and yr car will be auto and it will probably confuse you by having a dashboard handbrake, or foot handbrake.

oh and even if it says V8 3.500 litre----- it'll be the slowest pile of crap ever that will wallow like a fat girl in every corner.

mind you putting petrol in makes you smile its so cheap !

B0DSKI

iTrader: (17)

We had a 4 litre V8 and like ya man says it went nowhere fast, was fun doing U turns and planting your right foot, it understeered for England almost off of the side of the road the first time we tried it.

And as for the foot handbrake.........We could'nt figure out how to release it the first time we stopped Had to ask a bloke to come and show us how.

jods

My 24K gold piece of advice is to take a Sat Nav system with US Mapping, If you don't have one you can rent as an optional extra - TRUST me - It is WELL worth it. Since the wife and I got one we have had totally stress free driving out here. We are in Kissimmee at the moment. Where are you visiting ?

Calabay Park - Should be nice!!

Another tip for you. If you get the chance to go to Oldtown Kissimmee - You have gotta try out this bad boy - Best ride in Orlando, bar none.

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SWRTWannabe

* It won't corner anything like a Scoob. Found that out with much tyre screeching when we nearly missed the entrance to the hotel
* If you're going to Disney, expect to be tailgated when you drive. Then, expect the same people that were so keen to get in quickly to walk at snails pace occupying the full width of the path (often one person can achieve this )
* Keep a look out for the line at junctions - sometimes the lights are at the far side of the junction, so expect to stop sooner than you would for UK lights.

gtijames

A BIG THANKS everyone,i few a bit more reassured now.were doing the disney parks,seaworld,mgm and universal,and weve got to fit a wedding in on the 27th march.those dragsters look awsome must try to go there.i also would like to go to the space centre and get a fishing trip in.theres so much we want to do but i know we wont get it all done.(apart from the wedding from that there is no escape lol).

little-ginge

I thought I was going to cak myself when driving out there... but it was real easy..
we had a mustang convertible..fab car with 'hollywood tyres'..

If it is a rental just beware of dodgy tags.. I was pulled over outside Busch Gardens.. our vehicle 'tag' was for a people carrier...the rental company had foofed up..
The sight of the policeman with the big gun scared the foof out of me as I had heard how mean they can be..but he was ok..

As above keep some change for the highway tolls, def. get a sat nav - we did and it was worth it's weight in gold tbh, and just take it easy until you get the hang of things-and enjoy yourself!

Boro

iTrader: (1)

Driven in Florida a couple of times, last time had a Mustang convertible. Someone mentioned sat nav. If you can, try and take your own, the car hire companies charge a FORTUNE. Made that mistake once. The total cost of hiring one for two weeks would have bought one in Walmart!!!

As said also, make sure you have lots of change/dollar bills for the toll roads.

Enjoy your trip, wish i was goin, haha

Freak

You pay for your fuel before the pump is turned on.
So you pull up, stick the pump in the tank, latch the nozzle on, go in, pay for however many $ worth you want.
The pumps then turned on, and because you have latched it on, is filled by the time you get out with whatever snacks youve just bought in the store lol

And most important of all:

If you get pulled over by the cops, DO NOT get out of the car!
Stay in the car, with both hands on the wheel, and do not make any sudden movements.

And no...I'm not joking.

Boro

iTrader: (1)

Haha fuel, i stuck $40 in thinking it would be £20 and about 1/3 tank. Boy did i get a shock, lol.

fast bloke

Remember - Drive on the left, pass on the right....... erm, I mean drive on the right, pass on the left... erm......... If there are loads of people driving on the wrong side of the road..... it isn't them.... its you

AsifScoob

As above. Orlando is easy to drive in, Kennedy easy to get to.

It is possible to speed. My Wife drive from Orlando to Miami in about 2 1/2 hours - quick enough.

Driving to Florida Keys is tough though. One road and heavily policed, just stick to the speed limit and allow plenty of time.

Don't know whether you are going that way, but I am just telling you about my experience!

I don't consider the driving to be aggresive, as Snazy suggested, although if people drove like that here there would be many more fights on the roads.

People are just happy to cut in. In our view it would be 'cutting up', but normal and acceptable over there. If you want to change lanes on the highway, or turn out of a street, just go for it if you see a space.

People will not stop to give you space so don't sit there waiting for it, just go, people will not get mad, as they would here.

HTH.

Asif

gtijames

right thats me done for a couple of weeks thanks for the advice see ya all.