Driving on the "right" side of the road

Driving on the "right" side

Getting a US licence was a big deal to me, and I finally did it in December 2010. I finally felt like I was "normal". After driving for about 10 years in Australia, suddenly being unable to take myself anywhere got a bit old pretty quick. I was able to drive on my Aussie licence for a certain period because in many US states you're permitted to drive on your foreign licence for a certain period of time (there are some countries that aren't, there's a list online somewhere). Some states permit 30 days, some 90 but California (CA) specifies 10 days of "residing" in CA before you need a California licence. The CA licence rule has been an issue for a few people because if you don't have a visa permitting a licence, or GC you're not eligible for a CA licence, but the police will have an issue with you driving without one if you "reside" in CA.. so if asked you're VISITING CA, not living there... until you're able to get a CA licence... just out of interest!. For people from other states make sure you check the laws of the state you're in/visiting to make sure you're able to drive around in your friend or family members car AND have that friend or family member check with their insurance that they cover foreign licences (some don't).. if you're renting a car, of course you're fine :)

Just from the above I'm sure you can see that different states have different rules when it comes to a lot of things. This includes the switching over of a foreign licence to a US licence. If you're Canadian some states will just let you swap them over (this means handing over your foreign licence), but for most countries you actually need to go through the testing and everything like any other "new driver" would.

As you'd expect, there's also a fair few differences to driving in the US as opposed to Australia, they use miles instead of kilometres for one, but one of the biggest is of course driving on the "other" (right) side of the road, while sitting on the other (left hand) side of the car! Luckily the accelerator and brake are still the same otherwise I think I might have had a bit of trouble! As it was, changing gear with my right hand instead of my left meant I would occasionally slam my left hand into the truck (ute) door in my attempt to change gear!!

Road Markings

Like in Australia rules can sometimes vary from state to state so please bear in mind these are Iowa (and some Illinois) laws/quirks :)

My Saviour - The "Yellow Line"

One handy-dandy thing is that there is a yellow line separating you from oncoming traffic. This make my life easier because I do still have moments where I panic a little making sure the road I'm turning into isn't one-way, or making sure I'm turning into the correct lane so I look for my yellow line! As you can see from the pic on the left, the yellow lines are on the left most side of the road for each direction of traffic.

So a multi-lane highway will be separated by white lines for each of the lanes heading in the same direction, and then separated from oncoming traffic by a yellow line. 

Right Turn on Red

Right Turn on Red

Another favourite! As we drive on the right side of the road here in the US, when you're wanting to turn right you're actually turning into the closest most lane (like turning left in Australia). In many cases (unless there's a sign saying "No Turn on Red") you would treat the right turn at a red stop light as a stop sign. You come to a complete stop, check to see if there's traffic (traffic who have the green obviously have right of way) and if it's clear, you turn. Saves a LOT of time. 

Stop Signs

There is not always a fat white line telling you where to stop (this goes for stop signs and traffic lights), and the stop sign sits a little further back from where you're actually supposed to stop. This can be hard on road where the stop sign is hidden until the last minute (dang trees needing to be cut). It feels almost like someone is playing a trick on you and put a sign there just to mess with you...

I miss the fat white line for the stops and the dashed line for give way (called a "yield") here. This lack of line is also sometimes a problem with traffic lights too.

Traffic Lights

Aussie Traffic Lights (NSW)

Illinois Traffic Lights

You don't really notice things are there until you notice something is missing. In Australia (Vic at least) we have 2 sets of lights for each direction; one on the side of the road you stop at, and another on the other side of the road (that sounds confusing so I added a pic). Not here. They're ONLY on the opposite side of the road (pic also added). With the fat white line missing (mentioned above) I did, once, almost cross the road on a red to sit at that light. I realised there was something wrong (why would I sit in traffic?) but I still did have that momentary urge to "pull up to the light" like I normally would.

The lights don't necessarily have to be on a pole either, sometimes they're suspended ABOVE the road (still on the other side) by a wire tied between two poles. These lights can either be vertical, or horizontal. They're usually pretty tight so even a strong breeze will just make them sway just a little. Nothing too scary.

Indicators / Blinkers

This was one mum was thrown by as well when she visited. Just a small thing but blinkers/indicators here in the US are not ALWAYS a dedicated orange light, instead in many cases (including our vehicles) the indicator is actually one of the brake lights flashing. When mum was here I was driving behind a vehicle that had only ONE brake light working, so I was never sure what the person was doing... and just the other day I was next to someone who tapped their brakes all the time. I kept worrying they were about to dart out in front of me to turn :S

Crossing the Street

I have nearly been hit by cars, twice... yes probably because I'm an idiot, but also because back home when you step out into the road (okay maybe I'm the only one) you look towards oncoming traffic first and then step out and look to the other side while walking... well.. here because they drive on the "right" side of the road, oncoming traffic will come on your left side, instead of your right side like back home. This means that I've stepped out before looking and cars have nearly plowed into me. Scary stuff

When mum was visiting she did the same thing and I told her she had to STOP and check BOTH sides of the road before stepping out. She wasn't allowed to get injured on holiday! Now it's so natural to me I just know I'm in trouble when I'm next back in Australia.

Clover leaf

Clover Leaf

Clover leaf explanation

Here's a wiki article on them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloverleaf_interchange

The weird thing about these is that when coming off the actual "leaf" part, the part where you turn, you do NOT stop and while you sometimes slow down a little, you do not slow down much because it's dangerous when traffic is going so fast (typically at least 55mph). You merge with oncoming traffic, AND if you look at the diagram above, you are entering oncoming traffic as others are trying to exit so there's a zigzag crossing situation that is sometimes a little scary when there's a lot of traffic.

Helmets for Motorcycles

This is just a small one but shocks me without fail. There is no helmet law here in Iowa. This means that people are running around on motorcycles without helmets... ALL the time. It just blows my mind :S

0.08 BAC

The alcohol level that you have to be under is 0.08. On doing a quick read on the internet its different in different states but in Montana I see that if you drive a "commercial vehicle" (so a bus or something) you need to be under 0.04 and if you're under 21 you're not supposed to have any "measureable amount" but what's interest is that's not 0.00, it's 0.02.. weird.

I just realised I've never seen a booze bus here either... :S

School Buses

Stopping for School Bus

This one has always thrown me. The image to the left explain it. Unless there is a median strip separating traffic, it doesn't matter what direction you're driving in, or what side of the road you're on, you must stop for a stopped school bus with it's red lights and stop sign out. The penalties for not doing this vary from state to state but were recently changed in Iowa to carry a 250-650 fine (plus court costs and a surcharge fee) and loss of licence (30 or more days depending on whether its the first or more offence). Needless to say, this is a BIG rule to remember.. and leads me to...



Every Fine is a Court Record

Let's be honest, just about all of us have driven a little faster than we should have at some stage, but what I wasn't aware of was that instead of it just being on your driving record, here in the US they actually make a court record of it. All fines (speeding, rolling through a stop sign... whatever) are lodged with the court and you have a court date. Some fines do not require you to actually GO to court (you can pay the fine before your court date) but all actually HAVE a court date and therefore a court record online (and court records are a matter of public record which in some areas, like mine, means it may also be in the paper). Some require you to go to court, no matter what, and failure to do so will lead to a warrant being out for your arrest.

It's rather interesting in my opinion. At home a court record means you've done something really bad. Here, it's "not a big deal" (as I've been told) to have a court record for something like a speeding fine etc, it's "just a ticket"...

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Well that was pretty long but I hope you found it interesting :)