Driving in Florida - A Brits Guide

The United States is the largest consumer of oil in the world. You realise it is true as soon as you land in there. The supermarkets, shopping malls or even small restaurants, all will have 1 thing in common - large car parks. You get the idea very fast - to get anywhere in the USA, you need a car. Fortunately, most holiday packages to USA come with car hire included, the downside is that someone has to drive the car.

If you plan to drive the car in the US, have not driven there before (or even if you have), the following prep-list can help you a lot.

The Befores:

First and foremost you should not forget to take the driving licence along.

In case the travel company has given you any papers or vouchers, you should take them along.

You should find out about the Hotel or Rental Accommodation before you leave home -- its location, approach from the airport, landmarks, junctions, and turning points.

There are many online resources available, which will help you to gather this information. It is better to spend a little time at your home doing this rather than feel frustrated for hours at a strange place.

It also a great idea to obtain a map of the place before hand - make an online purchase or download and print or get it from the travel agent - and jot down the quick references and landmarks.

Ask in online forums and clarify all the doubts - after all, the internet should be useful for something.

Of course, if you get a car with one of the fancy onboard navigation system, you could have an easier time.

If you plan to do the driving, Do not take any alcohol in the aircraft as the Americans strictly enforce Drink Driving law -- Drinking and Driving is a 'no-no'. In Florida especially, you should not carry alcohol within the cabin of the car. Any alcohol carried in the car should be unopened and carried in the trunk, called boot.

Rules of the road:

Unlike the UK but similar to most of Europe, traffic in USA follows keep right policy and hence you should too. This would not be new to people who have driven their car on the continental Europe. The difference in US is that the driver’s seat will be on the left of the car. You have to do everything in reverse - including leaning the left arm out of the window instead of the right.

The width of the car will be to your right not left and the gearshift will be on the ... right again.

You should park on the right side of the road and when you do, watch out for the curb, called sidewalk.

You should not park within 10 feet of a fire hydrant - not that you have to get out and measure.

You should not park in front of curbs, called sidewalks, marked with red or yellow stripes, which are for emergency vehicles.

You should not park on the While lines at bus stops.

Americans have also made a couple of changes to the almost universal highway code.

Even when the traffic light is red, you are allowed to turn right -- provided you come to a complete halt before attempting the turn and of course there is no approaching traffic from the left. It is like a 'free left turn' but to the right. Then, there are traffic lights where you are not allowed to do so, but such lights have a sign posted saying so.

You may also come across a 4-way junction without any roundabouts. At these '4-way-stops', the practice is to come to a complete halt before taking your turn.

If you come across a stopped school bus with lights flashing, you must again, come to a complete halt before proceeding, even if you are driving the other way.

You must use lights in low visibility areas and times and in heavy rain, dawn or dusk. After heavy rains, you may encounter 'Florida-Ice' -- not real ice, but greasy roads made slippery by rain.

Do not lose track of where you parked the car. As mentioned, parking lots are huge and you might spend hours trying to locate your (unfamiliar) car.

You are most likely to get a car with automatic shift instead of manual and there will be no Clutch pedals. Of course, you can always ask for special gearshift cars and be charged an arm and a leg.

You should call Fuel or Petrol as 'gas' in America. The 'gas' is measured in US gallons -- (a slightly smaller measure than the Imperial or UK gallons) and distances are measured in miles.

Credit card is generally accepted while fuelling up -- the difference is that at some gas stations payment is expected in advance inside the station, while at others payment is accepted at the pump.

Controls in the car:

Automatic Gear Shift/Transmission lever, called gearshift, may be mounted by the steering wheel or between the front seats, called console mount. The console mounts may also be fitted with 'thumb button’, which you have to press to move the shift.

Gearshifts will generally have 6 positions - P Park, R Reverse, N Neutral, D Drive, 1 First, and 2 Second. Drive is the normal driving position and there is no need to shift gears manually, the shift occurs automatically. 1st and 2nd gear positions are to be used for rough terrain and climbing steep slopes.

Cars may have a hand/foot operated parking brake instead of hand brake, located near the brake pedal in the foot well. In some cars, it may be located on the steering column.

The release for such brakes may be located on the lower left dashboard. The lever or tab has to be pulled to release the brake. Some models may not have releases and the brake pedal itself has to be pressed a second time to release.

Cruise controls, if present, are generally found on a lever on the steering column

Trunk release, called Boot release, if fitted, may be located on floor between driver's seat and door, or inside the glove compartment, or on the dashboard, or on the driver's door.

Fuel tank filler release, if fitted, will be generally located inside the glove compartment, or on the floor between driver's seat and door. An emergency release cable will also be located inside the trunk, called boot, on the side nearest to the tank filler.

Automatic Boot, if fitted, will slowly close by itself when pushed. They should not be forced, but allowed to close by themselves.

Windscreen wiper controls are found on the indicator lever. The lever is rotated to the required speed and pressed in to activate the washer.

Remote control side mirrors, if fitted, are controlled by toggles or joysticks located on each door, or on a control panel on the driver's door, or on the dashboard.

Hazard warning lights are found either on top or below the steering column.

Headlight controls may be a pull or rotate knob located on lower left-hand dashboard, press button or lever on upper left-hand dashboard, or by rotation of indicator lever, or a push lever on right side of steering column. You can normally flash the lights by pulling or pushing the indicator lever.

Starting the car:

First, make sure the shift is in 'Park'. Then press and hold the brake pedal before turning on the ignition. Once the engine is ticking over, put the Parking Brake 'On'. This is to ensure that the car does not jump forward as soon as you shift to 'Drive'. Press and hold the brake pedal again and move the shift to 'Drive'. In most cars, gear levers can be moved to 'Drive' only if the brake pedal is pressed. Release the Parking Brake.

Driving the car:

Generally, most US cars will 'creep' at tick-over if the brakes are not applied. Taking the foot off the brake will move the car slowly forward. This feature is used most commonly to move out of car parks, in slow traffic or in stop-and-go traffic.

Use only the right foot on both brake and accelerator pedals and desist from using the left foot. Thankfully, the pedals are in the same order as UK car.

Many American cars are fitted with Cruise Control, which allows you to maintain a constant speed while driving on highways. To set cruise control, you must first turn 'On' the control and press the ‘Set’ Button when you reach the desired speed. The car will 'cruise' at the set speed. You can disengage the cruise control at any time by tapping the brake pedal or by turning the control 'Off'.

Americans also accept the concept of slower traffic keeping to the inside lane, that is to the right. However, the lane discipline and overtaking rules are many times given the go. When the traffic is especially high, they also resort to 'undertaking' -- which is overtaking on the inside.

Road Network:

Road network in Florida as in most of the US are very well organised. There are county roads, state roads, highways and Interstates or US highways. The roads are all numbered -- with the east-west roads bearing even numbers and odd numbers allotted to north-south roads.

Strangely, the Interstates will not have any service stations. Petrol Service stations, restaurants, and motels will be generally located at junctions called intersections.

Driving in the US is more relaxed than in Europe. The speeds are lower, road users are generally polite and the laws are obeyed - if not, the officers are not far behind.