Driving in the USA
Discussion
I'm sure there must be countries even more inappropriate/risky for a visitor to chance their arm by driving like a lady's pee-thing, but the US is not a place to trifle with the law and rely on your plumy accent to get you off with warning.
There are multiple agencies in play - all with their own priorities and agendas. Highway Patrol (Troopers) are the least likely to see the funny side of flagrant ignorance of road rules. Their sole MO is traffic policing, speed enforcement and accident investigation. They are poorly paid and have a thankless, mundane remit. Although they don't have ticket quotas, their work ethic is often viewed negatively by superiors if their citation-writing doesn't match that of their colleagues (perceived to be lazy cops). As a result, Troopers are far less likely to issue a courtesy notice - even to a foreigner, than a Sheriffs Deputy or a Metro Officer. Don't ignore DOT Police either - they concentrate of commercial vehicles, but have very similar powers to Highway Patrol.
CA and NV Highway Patrol are aggressive and have lots of resource available, including aircraft. Their cruisers have forward and rear facing scanning Ka radar - so not only can they bag you coming in the opposite direction - that can also bust you from up ahead, when traveling in the same direction.
Writing as the parent of a US cop (not a Trooper), my understanding is that honesty and a good attitude is your best option if you are stopped. "No excuse sir, just sloppy driving - not paying as much attention as I should have been" will go down a hell of a lot better than the usual, "I need to find a restroom" or "I'm late for an important meeting".
Finally, please remember the "Move-Over" law - change lanes away from stopped police/fire/ambulance on the shoulder, or reduce speed 20mph below posted limit, if move over is not an option.
There are multiple agencies in play - all with their own priorities and agendas. Highway Patrol (Troopers) are the least likely to see the funny side of flagrant ignorance of road rules. Their sole MO is traffic policing, speed enforcement and accident investigation. They are poorly paid and have a thankless, mundane remit. Although they don't have ticket quotas, their work ethic is often viewed negatively by superiors if their citation-writing doesn't match that of their colleagues (perceived to be lazy cops). As a result, Troopers are far less likely to issue a courtesy notice - even to a foreigner, than a Sheriffs Deputy or a Metro Officer. Don't ignore DOT Police either - they concentrate of commercial vehicles, but have very similar powers to Highway Patrol.
CA and NV Highway Patrol are aggressive and have lots of resource available, including aircraft. Their cruisers have forward and rear facing scanning Ka radar - so not only can they bag you coming in the opposite direction - that can also bust you from up ahead, when traveling in the same direction.
Writing as the parent of a US cop (not a Trooper), my understanding is that honesty and a good attitude is your best option if you are stopped. "No excuse sir, just sloppy driving - not paying as much attention as I should have been" will go down a hell of a lot better than the usual, "I need to find a restroom" or "I'm late for an important meeting".
Finally, please remember the "Move-Over" law - change lanes away from stopped police/fire/ambulance on the shoulder, or reduce speed 20mph below posted limit, if move over is not an option.
I have totted up around 120,000 miles driving in the US . In recent times there seem more police activity on the roads, so I tend to behave. The only state I have had a ticket, Texas, twice. The first, yep ok 80 while overtaking. The second 71 in a 70!!! Both times though, just advisory ticket, but certainly makes you think. This summer drove virtually only cruise control, in a SS convertable. !
Echo comments about them getting you coming the other way, on three encounters they have all been coming the other way and saw the brake lights come on in the mirror as they passed followed by a u-turn and lots of pretty lights.
So far been lucky and not had any fines, First one was many years ago followed another car past an RV on a rare bit of straight road in the Rockies, kept my foot in to pass the car as well and shortly after pulling in the crown vic went the other way, lights up like a xmas tree and does the u-turn thing behind the other car, who pulls over as we carry on on our merry way (a little nervous the would mobilize the FBI to track us down).
Both other occasions were back to back, one in CA, the other the next day in NV, CHIP gave me a b
king, but a Canadian rental car, British license, 50mi and nothing between us and the NV state line i think he thought the paperwork was too much effort. The next day was really in the middle of nowhere on US50 in NV and was the local cop pulled us for a chat just because we were making progress and he just wanted to ask us to take it easy through town as it was school kicking out time. both of those i am blaming on the Canadian rental which everything was in Km/h so adherence to speed limits was at best vague and they were having a low tolerance moment.
So that was the cool story bra....now the advice
A lot of their patrol cars aren't so obvious from the front, the light bars are so slim on some and their radar good enough that by the time you wake up and realize its a cop its too late.
Middle of nowhere you stand out, i stick closer to the limit if i am on my own now than i might if there are other cars around, on the interstate i often use another car as an advance scout, see their brake light come on and there is likely a reason for it! Just be careful your not the second car in my first story!
Don't assume because you are in the middle of nowhere there isn't a local cop with not a lot to do in his one stop light town, so he spends his day driving remote roads looking for people in/causing trouble or sitting beside the road doing his paperwork keeping an eye on things in the middle of that long straight.
Don't endanger officials, road workers and children. They take a very dim view of it and keep a close eye on whats going on around them, so if you see a cop or road worker at the side of the road with flashing lights, move over or slow down. For kid's, stop for the school bus with the stop sign out (both ways) and adhere to the really low limits in school zones when they are active (flashing orange light)
As has been said tolerances vary state by state and individual jurisdictions, Some remote parts of CA have little tolerance, whereas busy city interstate can speed along quite a bit, best to take you lead from the locals and if they are not around, play safe.
So far been lucky and not had any fines, First one was many years ago followed another car past an RV on a rare bit of straight road in the Rockies, kept my foot in to pass the car as well and shortly after pulling in the crown vic went the other way, lights up like a xmas tree and does the u-turn thing behind the other car, who pulls over as we carry on on our merry way (a little nervous the would mobilize the FBI to track us down).
Both other occasions were back to back, one in CA, the other the next day in NV, CHIP gave me a b
king, but a Canadian rental car, British license, 50mi and nothing between us and the NV state line i think he thought the paperwork was too much effort. The next day was really in the middle of nowhere on US50 in NV and was the local cop pulled us for a chat just because we were making progress and he just wanted to ask us to take it easy through town as it was school kicking out time. both of those i am blaming on the Canadian rental which everything was in Km/h so adherence to speed limits was at best vague and they were having a low tolerance moment. So that was the cool story bra....now the advice
A lot of their patrol cars aren't so obvious from the front, the light bars are so slim on some and their radar good enough that by the time you wake up and realize its a cop its too late.
Middle of nowhere you stand out, i stick closer to the limit if i am on my own now than i might if there are other cars around, on the interstate i often use another car as an advance scout, see their brake light come on and there is likely a reason for it! Just be careful your not the second car in my first story!
Don't assume because you are in the middle of nowhere there isn't a local cop with not a lot to do in his one stop light town, so he spends his day driving remote roads looking for people in/causing trouble or sitting beside the road doing his paperwork keeping an eye on things in the middle of that long straight.
Don't endanger officials, road workers and children. They take a very dim view of it and keep a close eye on whats going on around them, so if you see a cop or road worker at the side of the road with flashing lights, move over or slow down. For kid's, stop for the school bus with the stop sign out (both ways) and adhere to the really low limits in school zones when they are active (flashing orange light)
As has been said tolerances vary state by state and individual jurisdictions, Some remote parts of CA have little tolerance, whereas busy city interstate can speed along quite a bit, best to take you lead from the locals and if they are not around, play safe.
Just to add another point, make sure you come to a complete stop at a stop sign. It sounds trivial I know, but you would be amazed how many people roll through only to be followed by a police car or similar and given a ticket. It happens all the time around where we live, it's amazing how complacent the local drivers are here, but we live in Atlanta which is generally renowned as a free for all on the roads.
toohuge said:
Just to add another point, make sure you come to a complete stop at a stop sign. It sounds trivial I know, but you would be amazed how many people roll through only to be followed by a police car or similar and given a ticket. It happens all the time around where we live, it's amazing how complacent the local drivers are here, but we live in Atlanta which is generally renowned as a free for all on the roads.
also not that traffic are on the far side of junctions or strung up over the junction quite often unlike ours that are on the side you stop at. i wasn't paying attention one day and started rolling upto the stop sign realize i was in middle of junction panicked turned to the right and ended up going down wrong side of road, lucky there was a carpark entrance just a few meters up the road so whacked it in there pulled my self together and set off again Matt Harper said:
.... and come to a complete standstill before making a turn on red (and yeild to pedestrians).
That way they will know for sure your a tourist, most drivers i observed in FL over the last few weeks barely slowed down to turn right on red. Saw a few pulled over mind...Echoing another poster's comments - pulled for 71 in a 70 limit is easily believable - I was pulled for 75 on a 70 highway (I got away with that as thye didn't want the hassle of a foreign driver).
Cities seem to be another story - Chicago I've only seen TWO speed signs in couple of years of being here, and not even the locals can give an answer on what the speed limit should be in the city, and no-one pays any attention to it anyway, certainly not delivery or taxi drivers who regularly hit 50-60 in the city. (And don't get me started on the blowing through zebera crossings and red lights). It's not surprising I see a hefty crash at least once a month.
Its a different world from the standard of driving in the UK...
Cities seem to be another story - Chicago I've only seen TWO speed signs in couple of years of being here, and not even the locals can give an answer on what the speed limit should be in the city, and no-one pays any attention to it anyway, certainly not delivery or taxi drivers who regularly hit 50-60 in the city. (And don't get me started on the blowing through zebera crossings and red lights). It's not surprising I see a hefty crash at least once a month.
Its a different world from the standard of driving in the UK...
I have driven throughout the contiguous states for many years and have had the odd ticket. Lots of good advice above. I have a house in Scottsdale AZ so know the SouthWest well.
One minor addition. - there are often long straight roads, but its difficult to see the dips ahead as it looks flat and straight, and speed trap are often in the dips. Also, be very careful passing on two laners that look empty where there are dips…people have head-ons that way as an uncoming car pops out of the dip.
If you do get stopped and you have to get the papers out of the glove compartment, mention it to the officer before you start doing so, as they are nervous about glove compartments. Not surprising, as 65% of the cars in AZ for instance have guns in them. In general if you are polite and do what you are asked there will be no problem.
In general, driving in the US is not at all stressful, and people are generally fairly polite.
One minor addition. - there are often long straight roads, but its difficult to see the dips ahead as it looks flat and straight, and speed trap are often in the dips. Also, be very careful passing on two laners that look empty where there are dips…people have head-ons that way as an uncoming car pops out of the dip.
If you do get stopped and you have to get the papers out of the glove compartment, mention it to the officer before you start doing so, as they are nervous about glove compartments. Not surprising, as 65% of the cars in AZ for instance have guns in them. In general if you are polite and do what you are asked there will be no problem.
In general, driving in the US is not at all stressful, and people are generally fairly polite.
Have had several driving holidays around your planned itinerary. One thing I noted off the freeways is that the risks of getting pulled for speeding on the open road are fairly low, the local police are normally parked up at the entries and exits of the towns so that they're not to far from the doughnut suppliers. Hence, respect the speed limits in the conurbations and you greatly reduce the risk of getting ticketed!
Here in Miami it's not quite like the rest of the US due to the large latino poulation and their crap driving standards, but in 2 years here I have only seen cops with speed guns twice, and in both cases they were very visible and easy to avoid. The people who get caught are the ones too busy texting or surfing the net to spot the obvious trap. Have been caught only once by a cop car coming the other way - he came round the bend ahead of me and I didn't have time to scrub off the excess speed before he clocked me.
Fines are state dependant but reasonable - just paid the fine for a tourist friend caught doing 80 in a 55 limit, $170.
By the way, if you pass near the Bryce Canyon, visit it! Far more memorable than Zion in my opinion!
Here in Miami it's not quite like the rest of the US due to the large latino poulation and their crap driving standards, but in 2 years here I have only seen cops with speed guns twice, and in both cases they were very visible and easy to avoid. The people who get caught are the ones too busy texting or surfing the net to spot the obvious trap. Have been caught only once by a cop car coming the other way - he came round the bend ahead of me and I didn't have time to scrub off the excess speed before he clocked me.
Fines are state dependant but reasonable - just paid the fine for a tourist friend caught doing 80 in a 55 limit, $170.
By the way, if you pass near the Bryce Canyon, visit it! Far more memorable than Zion in my opinion!
ViperDave said:
Matt Harper said:
.... and come to a complete standstill before making a turn on red (and yeild to pedestrians).
That way they will know for sure your a tourist, most drivers i observed in FL over the last few weeks barely slowed down to turn right on red. Saw a few pulled over mind...I ride-along with my daughter's mob as often as I'm allowed and the stuff I get to see would be laughable, were it not so dangerous.
Trustmeimadoctor said:
jumping redlights is a big thing these days used to be a really small fine the fine is much larger these days
Still only a misdemeanor though and really terrifying for the simple reason that they are usually gunning-it and accelerating through the intersection.Which brings up another thought I mention on these threads quite frequently.
In the UK we are taught that a yellow light means stop or prepare to stop. In the US it seems to mean, put your boot down and try to beat the red.
I live in a US city that has huge numbers of tourists from UK. The most common UK tourist vs local yokel accident is the tourist being rear-ended by the local, who was expecting the tourist to accelerate vs brake on a yellow light.
Also, if you are at the front of the line and have a red light change to green - pause - before setting off, to allow for the homicidal maniacs blazing through, because it was too much of an inconvenience for them to stop when their light turned red.
It's the wild west out here, I'm telling' ya.
Thanks guys for the advice, some good tips which I will keep in mind. Obviously I will drive sensibly around towns and heavier traffic but hopefully there will some stretches to test the car 
Matt Harper said:
In the UK we are taught that a yellow light means stop or prepare to stop. In the US it seems to mean, put your boot down and try to beat the red.
Erm, I dunno where in the UK you were taught but that's definitely not the case from my experience!
Matt is right and i dare say its legally the same in the US, but in the uk when we see amber we will generally hit the anchors unless we are really close or running late. In the US i have been known to follow the American way and hit the gas, both for my convenience and also because as Matt says dropping anchors hard to stop at the line on the strength of a amber will get you rear ended. The number of times i have gone through on amber/red like that thinking ohh probably should have stopped for that one, i have looked in the mirror and there is usually at least one and usually two cars followed me through.
I think the reason for it is that every junction is a stop light and some of the bigger roads you can quite easily forget why you are waiting there, need a shave before you move off and there is a reason they sell you the Sunday times in the line, you can read the whole thing while your waiting there. So chuck in a bad day with every light being red you learn to go for it. you also learn again as Matt says, the traffic light GP is not the best of ideas, you will always win, well until you get t-boned half way across, the smart ones who are still alive wait for all the red light jumper to clear first.
Of course some of that is changing with the introduction of red light cameras, but they are controversial and only affect the junction they are on, although on one junction I'm familiar with, there would always be one T-bone smash in the middle of it each vacation, it was this time i realized i haven't seen one since they put the cameras up.
Whilst I'm here i will also reinforce the point by RDMcG about overtaking on long straight roads, you will be amazed at what can disappear in what looks like a straight flat road, especially if you throw in some heat mirage effect (can happen in the cold just as much if not more than the hot) so pay attention to the yellow line in the middle and if its solid on your side, stay put.
I think the reason for it is that every junction is a stop light and some of the bigger roads you can quite easily forget why you are waiting there, need a shave before you move off and there is a reason they sell you the Sunday times in the line, you can read the whole thing while your waiting there. So chuck in a bad day with every light being red you learn to go for it. you also learn again as Matt says, the traffic light GP is not the best of ideas, you will always win, well until you get t-boned half way across, the smart ones who are still alive wait for all the red light jumper to clear first.
Of course some of that is changing with the introduction of red light cameras, but they are controversial and only affect the junction they are on, although on one junction I'm familiar with, there would always be one T-bone smash in the middle of it each vacation, it was this time i realized i haven't seen one since they put the cameras up.
Whilst I'm here i will also reinforce the point by RDMcG about overtaking on long straight roads, you will be amazed at what can disappear in what looks like a straight flat road, especially if you throw in some heat mirage effect (can happen in the cold just as much if not more than the hot) so pay attention to the yellow line in the middle and if its solid on your side, stay put.
Brother D said:
Echoing another poster's comments - pulled for 71 in a 70 limit is easily believable - I was pulled for 75 on a 70 highway (I got away with that as thye didn't want the hassle of a foreign driver).
the higher the limit the tighter the tolerance seems to be, so in OR where they love their 55mph limit on nice wide roads with excellent signs and marking, everyone seems to cruse along at 65 including the local sheriff, whereas in CA/NV with 70 limits on desert single lane roads, they will pull you for a chat/put the frighteners on even if you look like you are close to the limit. And never assume that because the place looks empty to you that there isn't a small town sheriff around, CA isn't as empty as it appears, even US50 in NV, the loneliest road in the US, has enough small towns to keep you on your toes, as i said that was where i got pulled once and the sheriff was about the only other car we saw all day in January. Made it real easy to lie down in the middle of the road for this though.
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