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Driving
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Your
driver's license may not be enough to drive in another country. That is where the International Driving
Permit
(IDP) comes in handy.
It is a translation of your country's drivers license into other
languages which is recognized by most countries of the world when
accompanied by your own country's drivers license. This is not an
"International Driving License" although some people may mistakenly refer to
the IDP as such. See the Warning box below to avoid the International
Driving License scam. In some countries they
drive on the left and in others (like the United States) they drive on the
right. Our box at the end of this page provides information on
driving in various regions and countries of the world.
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Our Tips |
- Find out what the countries you are
visiting require for a visitor to drive there. They will often require an International Driving Permit
(IDP) in addition to having your own country's drivers license.
- Check with your auto insurance company
about your coverage being valid in the countries you are visiting.
This is especially critical if you will be driving your own car.
- If renting a car, be especially
cautious of what you sign and that you are fully covered by your
insurance or that of the rental company or some combination of both.
- Make sure you know the Rules of the
Road for that country or countries you will be visiting.
- Acquaint yourself with international
road signs.
- Always lock your car when not in it
and do not have anything of value able to be seen through the windows no
matter where you park especially if there are kids or other people
around. Put them in the trunk or take them with you. It only takes
seconds for them to steal something. This planet has more
crooks per capita than any other planet in our galaxy!
- Check the website of your auto club or
your government's state department on security measures you should
be aware of when driving a car in a specific region or country. If
renting, ask the agent about any places to avoid or any accident scams
of which you could become a victim. Also do a web search for
<country or city name> car scams security.
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Warning - Beware The International Drivers License Scam - Beware
scams to sell you an "International Drivers License". There is no
such thing! That is not the same as what is called an International Driving Permit
(IDP) or sometimes called an International Driving Document
(IDD). A valid IDP can
only be obtained from an organization authorized by your government
to issue such a document. Go to your government's state department
website to find out the authorized organizations in your country
that can issue a valid IDP. This will often be a major auto
club such as AAA in the United States. For Americans, here is the
U.S. State Department page on
driving overseas. It includes authorized organizations that can
issue an IDP.
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Moto Europa
Road Signs - Scroll down past the text on the site's web page to see the signs. |
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Driving Aboard.
The best website we have found with information on driving
worldwide. |
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Wikipedia - Driving On the left or Right - Everything you want
to know about driving on the left or right worldwide. |
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AAA-International
Driving Permit They tell you how to get an International Driving
Permit (IDP). Here is their
FAQ page. They also have an excellent list of driving rules
by country that includes whether you drive on the right or left
(United States drives on the right), road
sign conventions, whether a country excepts your U.S. state-issued Drivers
License and whether they accept the IDP. Note: If you will be driving
in Brazil or Uruguay you will need an Inter-American Driving Permit (IADP)
for those two countries as they don't accept the IDP. AAA also issues
IADP permits. In the United Kingdom and other
countries, contact your motoring or auto club to obtain an IDP.
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U.S.
State Department - Road Safety Overseas useful information when driving
in other countries..
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Europe Road
Rules Reidsguides.com does an excellent job of explaining European
road rules.
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United Kingdom
Road Traffic Information. Excellent topics related
to driving in the U.K.
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Germany - Autobahns. This is
their highway system similar to the Interstate System in the United States
(which got the idea from Germany after World War 2.)
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Moto Europa.
Everything you need to know about driving in Europe.
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World Driving Sites |
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Travel Science All Rights Reserved
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