50
You definitively need your passport or an adequate emergency travel document.
Not only will Mexico not accept your ID card or driver's license but more importantly, since about a decade already, you are required to present a passport to return when arriving by air.
So, unless you want to stay in Mexico for, uh... a longer time, not taking your passport is ...
36
It does vary a lot, depending on both the issuing and visited countries.
For visiting Australia for an example, you either need your license to be in English, or have an IDP that translates it. There's a much narrower list of countries for whom getting an Australian license doesn't require a test, see here for more details on those things.
As an Australian,...
26
Most Asian countries do not accept a foreign driving license as a valid document for driving vehicles, and legally most of them require International Driving Permits. In practice however, a lot of tourists do not bother to get an IDP and instead leave their passport wherever they are hiring a car/motorcycle from.
If you get stopped by the traffic police ...
26
Answering my question since I was unable to find a solid answer elsewhere:
Yes, you can. Whereas Aussie rental companies insist on "unrestricted" licenses, their American counterparts are happy with any "valid" driver's license. In San Francisco, the two random Hertz and Enterprise outlets I tried didn't bat an eyelid at seeing a Victorian provisional ...
26
According to Timatic (I used the Sky Team interface), the following applies:
Driving License issued by United States of America to a national of United States of America is not listed as an accepted document by Mexico. Please check the document details have been entered correctly.
And:
Document of Identity issued by United States of America to a ...
24
Contact your credit card issuer, and ask for a second card on your account with your wife's name printed on it. Most credit card companies will happily do this.
24
I've driven for many years in the US and also gone through the process of getting my driver's license (again!) in the Netherlands. The below is based on my experience and there are some subtle differences between countries so beware.
First, to get it out of the way, almost all cars in Europe are manual transmissions, although some rental cars are ...
22
Three unalterable facts:
Yes, you need a Vietnamese DL to lawfully operate a scooter in Vietnam
No, a tourist cannot get a Vietnamese DL
Nobody, nobody, in Vietnam cares about the above two unalterable facts
I rented a scooter in Danang last month. The rental process consisted of me handing over 100,000 đồng (just under $5 USD) and the clerk giving me the ...
20
You can drive temporarily in any US state with a drivers license from any other US state.
However, if your residence is no longer in CT, then you must get an OR driver's license. You can read about relocating on the OR DOT site, but basically it says if you change your residence, you need to change your address with the DMV.
As long as you are in OR ...
20
In France, driver's licences issued by non-EEA countries are only valid if they are written in French, or accompanied by a notarized translation or an International Driving Permit.
Quoting from the official information page from the French authorities:
Vous pouvez conduire temporairement en France avec votre permis
délivré par un pays extérieur à l'...
19
Little Bikes are Simple
No license is necessary for motorcycles under 50cc, or electric bikes (e.g. Australian Embassy). You may, however, struggle to find such a bike for rental; electric bikes might be possible to get hold of in the big cities, but you're not going to be going on a road trip on one.
The Law on Bigger Bikes
For bigger bikes, or cars, it'...
19
German driving licence would be good to rent a car for 1 month or do
we need an international driving licence?
You can usually rent a car and drive with a valid driver's license from your home country in USA. An international license may be helpful in convincing the car rental agent that you really have a valid license when they cannot recognize or ...
19
The New York State DMV says this:
Non-residents
Out-of-state and foreign driver licenses\
You can drive in New York State with a valid driver license from another state or country. You don’t need to apply for a New York State driver license unless you become a New York State resident.
If you have a driver license from another country you ...
19
Japan is listed as a country that requires an IDP (International Drivers Permit) in addition to your domestic driving licence. Source
For kart rental, when I looked into it all required an IDP in addition to a valid foreign driving licence although it does look like not all European countries issue IDPs in the format required.
Belgium, France, Germany, ...
17
No. There is no transfer to the UK (although note that some info seems to be shared with Mexico and Canada).
The UK ONLY has a mutual recognition of driving points / disqualifications with Ireland.
They address this with regards to the future, hopefully initially with other EU states, which they don't even have this with currently:
We agree in principle ...
17
Do not pass on the right.
Learn the right of way rules.
Here is the US military driving manual for Germany. It comes the major rules and if followed will work for almost everywhere in Europe.
http://www.usareurpracticetest.com/germany/documents/manual.pdf
16
You could simply get an International Driving Permit. This, coupled with your US driver's license, is recognised in over 70 countries.
The American Automobile Association and the American Automobile Touring Alliance's National Automobile Club are the only entities in the United States to issue IDPs.
As for recognising your country license, each EU country ...
16
If you're permanently abroad, then the DVLA cannot issue you a driving licence.
Otherwise, if you are temporarily abroad, you will need to enclose a signed letter with your full name, date of birth, the UK address on your licence, and your address. This goes along with your D1 application and you will get your new licence mailed to you. Applies if:
You had ...
15
According to the "Foreign Visitors Driving in the U.S." page on usa.gov:
The laws in each state vary from one to another. It is your responsibility to know and obey the laws of that state while driving.
Searching for "confiscation of driver's license" on google, I found answers to the question "Can police confiscate your drivers license for a speeding ...
15
Yes, You can drive legally.
Your Australian driving experience will certainly help since both drive on same side. Traffic congestion can be a problem depending upon where you are. So it’s not like a piece of cake. People don’t really recommend tourists drive cars in central London but we don’t really know where you plan to drive.
If its going to be London, ...
15
In some European countries there some things that are compulsory to carry in the car.
Check for each country you're visiting what's required.
Confirm what's provided by the hire co. and what you need to source.
Such things as first aid kits, fire extinguishers, Hi_vis jackets (one per person or driver only), disposable breathalyzer kits, spare bulbs, ...
14
This is a common misconception. There is no such thing as an "International driver's licence". What you need is a "International Driver's Permit" which is a translation into multiple languages of your original licence, and is only valid when presented with said licence at the same time. The IDP does not give you any more rights to drive in a country than you ...
14
For European countries, you're at least technically supposed to have one. My friends got fined 250 euros each for riding scooters without international licenses in Barcelona. The scooter rental didn't request the license, but the cops cared.
13
I've always had one to rent a car, but I've never had a rental agent request the license. A USA drivers license, passport and credit card has been always been sufficient to rent a car. I've rented cars in Japan, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Portugal, France and Germany. I have never been stopped by the police and I do not know what would happen in this case. ...
13
Yes, it is useless.
The reason is that there are two cases. The first case is that you are allowed to use your foreign driving license. For example, a tourist from the USA may drive with his own license six months in Germany. But that is only allowed because Germany and the USA have a reciprocity convention, in this case you do not need this IDD. Simply ask ...
13
If you violate a traffic law and get busted you can pay on spot a reduced fine or a deposit which amount is half the price of the fine. If you chose to pay the deposits you will be able to contesting the fine.
The most common violations are:
no seat belt: from 76 to 306 euros.
underage with no seat belt: from 76 to 306 euros.
exceeding speed limits: from ...
12
The one year validity was originally set in the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic and agreed upon. Anyway, in the 1968 convention of the same topic it was changed to no more than 3 years validity after the date of issue or until the date of expiry of the domestic driver's license, whichever is earlier, but it seems that this is not followed.
From ...
12
Yes you can. Because a Canadian license permits you to drive manual transmission cars back home, it's taken as permission to drive one abroad. Since there isn't a specific 'manual transmission' license there is no other approach that could be taken.
I have rented manual cars in Britain many times on an Ontario license.
12
The standard "on-the-spot fine" for minor and/or imaginary traffic infractions while white is Rp. 50,000. Indonesians may get away with less, the average bule will need to haggle to get even that low.
I'd advise you to reconsider renting a scooter though. First, you do need that license to drive legally, and any insurance you may have is likely ...
12
As Li Zhi said, showing an ID is for the protection of the hotel. Hotels are in a very risky business, that is, letting complete strangers stay in their rooms. Any said stranger could easily steal things, or destroy things.
As for why some hotels copy them: that's so they have proof who was in the room, should any legal need arise. When I worked at a hotel,...
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
