Driving in US

[icube]

Anyone has any experience?

Going to California for 2 weeks and decided to try driving in California... seems easier and cheaper to drive.... want to know what to look out for etc.

1) Gas Stations, any difference compared to SG?
2) GPS easy to use?
3) Traffic what difference compared to SG? Besides that it is Left-hand drive
4) Toilets/break points along freeway?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE:
For those who just know about this thread.. this might be useful for those who are planning to drive in California
http://www.caldrive.com/law.html

 

[devilish_me]

gas stations: usually in the states, you pay first and then pump. most people use their credit/debit cards (swipe at pump). if you aren't doing so, then you'd need to pay cash at the register and tell them how much you want to pump and your pump number. once payment made then you can pump. some places offer full service (meaning someone pump for you and clean the exterior of your car - so it's slightly more ex and you give a tip).

gps: gps reception is generally very good....except in the big dense cities where they are a lot of tall buildings....then it could be a bit slow and doesn't detect your exact location very well. depending on how long you are gonna be in the states...might make sense for you to buy one instead of rent with vehicle 'cos it could be almost the same price.

traffic: much faster traffic definitely. on the west coast....many of the hwys have got speed limits of 90mph. the people here drive bigger/powerful car....so remember to give way if you see one of those monster trucks behind you. the lefthand drive is no small issue....just watch where you are turning into. a lot of times, you'd see unfamiliar tourists heading towards oncoming traffic. scary! city driving you'd have many cars navigating narrow roads....whereas for rural driving, you could've miles and miles of seeing no cars....you could fall asleep on a long straight road so be careful. i wouldn't recommend driving in the dark 'cos there usually aren't any streetlights and night time is when the animals like to come out to feed...sometimes by/on the roads.

toilet/break points: usually there'd be plenty of rest stops along the freeway - either fast food restaurants, rest areas or gas stations where there could be restrooms too.

 

[beanstalk6]

You will probably be driving more powerful vehicles. The models we have here are available there only at higher capacity. Do not be fooled by your perception of relative speed on the roads. The speedometer is in mph! You may be driving faster than what you are generally accustomed to, so watch the speed limit. Rental companies try to sign you up for things you may not need, like all-inclusive insurance, this and that waiver. Read the rental contract closely.

 

[fone]

One big difference is that in sg, road signs in sg tell you what you can do, while in US, they tell you what you can't do. Like U-turns a Right turn on red (left turn on red of sg). In US, you can U-turn at any junction unless it specifically says no U-turn. But in sg you can only U-turn when there is a U-turn sign. In US, if it does not say "no turn on red", you can turn right even if your traffic light is at red, but in sg, you can only do it if there is a sign saying so.

One other big issue to take note is stop sign. Yes, they do catch people for not stopping at stop signs. And at all-way stop signs, whoever stops first, gets to go first. (you probably don't find all way stop junctions in sg, and people don't stop anyway).

 

[fone]

many of the hwys have got speed limits of 90mph.

Maximum I've seen is 75 mph, somewhere in Colorado IIRC. I've driven between midwest to west coast and midwest to east coast (separate trips). 90 mph is crazily fast, few people on the road even drive that fast (friend from sg came to visit us in US and drove my car at 90 mph when I only drove at like 80 - 85 mph, she don't drive much in sg either, pretty scary).

Some highways also have minimum speed (like 45 mph), don't go below that (unless traffic jam).

 

[icube]

thanks for all advices... i will be making a car rental reservation through the website... in which i can choose which insurance to take... so shouldn't be a problem right?

The car rental agencies i'm looking at is Hertz, AVIS and Budget.. any comments on any of these agencies?

 

[devilish_me]

Maximum I've seen is 75 mph, somewhere in Colorado IIRC. I've driven between midwest to west coast and midwest to east coast (separate trips). 90 mph is crazily fast, few people on the road even drive that fast (friend from sg came to visit us in US and drove my car at 90 mph when I only drove at like 80 - 85 mph, she don't drive much in sg either, pretty scary).

Some highways also have minimum speed (like 45 mph), don't go below that (unless traffic jam).

oregon coast i remember is 90mph. yup..that's crazily fast for me too. over my side on the east coast...i think max is 65-70mph on the hwy (min 45mph).

 

[devilish_me]

thanks for all advices... i will be making a car rental reservation through the website... in which i can choose which insurance to take... so shouldn't be a problem right?

The car rental agencies i'm looking at is Hertz, AVIS and Budget.. any comments on any of these agencies?

if you are not a seasoned driver (or even if you are but not familiar with lefthand drive)...i'd advise to take the loss damage waiver (LDW). of course you can save money not to have....but insurance is such that you'd only learn the importance when you get into some unfortunate situations. over here, people park head-in...lots of collisions happen in carparks when backing out of lots. and for city driving where lots are tight....you never know what other drivers could do to your car when they are trying to navigate a tight lot. and yes, you could get dents on the sides too 'cos some idiots or their kids swing their car doors wide open and hit your car sides

 

[devilish_me]

I've driven between midwest to west coast and midwest to east coast (separate trips).

how's the west to east (& back) drive? might wanna do that next year. any tips? can we comfortably do east to west (& back) in a month's time?

we just did the atlantic coast drive (from MA to key west FL & back) in feb/mar this year...it was FUN! we also did the LA to WA (& back) coastal drive some years back. love love love the oregon coastal drive!!!

best thing about USA is roadtrips!

 

[cormet]

if you are not a seasoned driver (or even if you are but not familiar with lefthand drive)...i'd advise to take the loss damage waiver (LDW). of course you can save money not to have....but insurance is such that you'd only learn the importance when you get into some unfortunate situations. over here, people park head-in...lots of collisions happen in carparks when backing out of lots. and for city driving where lots are tight....you never know what other drivers could do to your car when they are trying to navigate a tight lot. and yes, you could get dents on the sides too 'cos some idiots or their kids swing their car doors wide open and hit your car sides

what about the liability insurance supplment?

 

[devilish_me]

what about the liability insurance supplment?

liability insurance is for third party claims i think - if you were to injure/kill somone or crash into their property.

check to see if the car rental company has certain basic level of liability insurance coverage already built into the rental cost...then decide if you want a higher coverage beyond the basic.

all i can say is...over here in the states, people like to sue for a whole lot of money and for a whole lot of reasons. so it's your choice really to save $ and not buy the supp or have a peace of mind by buying.

i also want to add that even for those of you with travel insurance that covers some amount of rental car damage....it's always better to buy the insurance that the car rental provides. 'cos for the singapore general insurers to pay out on your claims...they'd usually require documentations/proof/receipts from the overseas car rental companies....but some of these car companies won't be bothered to entertain your requests one. and once you are back in singapore, it'd be doubly hard to chase those fellas.

 

[patryn33]

driving in CA?
read the handbook here, I think ppl missed out school bus.
http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/pubs.htm


fyi
California was one of only two states (the other is New Jersey) banning windshield GPS mounting.

as for rental car, didn't someone here find it cheap to go thru www.dollar.co.uk

 

[blue_line]

driving in CA?
read the handbook here, I think ppl missed out school bus.
http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/pubs.htm


fyi
California was one of only two states (the other is New Jersey) banning windshield GPS mounting.

as for rental car, didn't someone here find it cheap to go thru www.dollar.co.uk

i drove in cali with windshield mount.. no prob..

 

[devilish_me]

i drove in cali with windshield mount.. no prob..

no prob if you don't get caught by the police!!!

 

[blue_line]

no prob if you don't get caught by the police!!!

the ban is lifted.

 

[fone]

Other than school bus, the emergency vehicles are also treated differently. In sg, you just let them pass you if they are behind you, in US, you slow down (and stop) and keep to the right. Even if your traffic light shows green, you still stop and wait for the emergency vehicle to pass before proceeding with your green light (unless you are blocking the emergency vehicle). They just drive through the junction regardless of what light they are on. I've seen them going to opposite traffic lane to get through to junction. If they cant get through, the cars stopped in front of emergency vehicle will have to get out of the way, regardless of what traffic signal they see.

Another difference is their left turn (ie sg right turn). We are used to having green right turn arrow after the red light, or at least a short blinking arrow. The norm for US traffic lights (or at least Cali ones) is that the green arrow comes before the green light, then there will be no arrow at the red light. Once the light turns amber or red, if you are a turning car after the stop line, check if oncoming traffic is going to stop (or has stopped), then proceed with the turn. I've seen many cars in sg simply waiting in the intersection, waiting for the arrow to come before proceeding with the turn, which will not come in the US.

the ban is lifted.

As for the windshield ban, if it is still in force, you simply cannot stick anything in windshield at the centre, you are, however, allowed to stick your gps at a very small corner of the windshield at the driver side. Whatever, I've googled indicated that the above is still true, you cannot stick your GPS anywhere you like on the windshield, which is how they "lifted" the windshield ban, by allowing only a very small spot for you to stick the GPS on.

 

[devilish_me]

i hate 4-way stops.....i'd always hesitate.....

emergency vehicles also tend to freak me out.....the way they blast their sirens and speed down the roads

and i often forget to stop for the school bus when it's on the other side of the road

 

[fone]

I've never encountered school buses on other side of road, only in front of me. Four ways stops just need to remember you stop after which car, after he go, you go. Emergency vehicles is like that, first few times I also freak out, after that, ok liao, just keep right, and slow down.

As for the cross country drive, just take your time lor. I bought my car from friend in Illinois, then both of us drove it down to Cali, took a few days. Just nice he is the type that wakes up early in morning and sleeps early, I'm the night owl, so he drives in morning and I take the afternoon/night shift. Quite sway, had a puncture tire in the middle of nowhere and had to waste money for hotel (originally planned hotel passed cancellation timing, plus new hotel) plus get chopped for tire replacement.

Other time, we drove the NY from IL for break, 3 ppl (all drivers) took turns to drive, that was much better, with much more rests. Plus big car = more fun.

I would recommend getting the CDW at least for car rental esp if you are going to national parks / wildlife prone areas. Had friends who want to save on hotel drove through the night and hit some wildlife, big dent in car, but luckily had CDW. I went to Yellowstone and was driving to airport to catch a 6am flight. Wildlife all around the highway, damn scary, luckily nothing happen (didnt buy CDW, but had own car insurance).

Tiring, but I'm used to long distance driving, can drive 4+ to 5 hours non-stop

 

[devilish_me]

yeah i also learn should buy LDW. that time we didn't buy and sway sway back into a low pillar (we didn't see!) in a garage with super tight lots and caused quite a dent. you never think it'd happen....but it just might.

talking about wildlife....the everglade vultures love to go after the rubbery car parts....so be careful where you park your car!

for roadtrips....we prefer to take our own sweet time. not sure whether or not the east/west drive (on route 66) is interesting?

 

[fone]

for roadtrips....we prefer to take our own sweet time. not sure whether or not the east/west drive (on route 66) is interesting?

Hmm, I didn't drive route 66, it was abit longer and we did not want to spend the time.