Driving In The USA For South Africans

I recently returned from a trip to Northern California where I spent a week driving around the Golden State. Driving in the USA was something I was very nervous about but it turned out to be much easier than I had expected. As many South Africans are anxious about driving in a foreign country, I thought I would point out a few key differences, tips and experiences which might help.

Obvious differences

There are a number instantly recognisable differences:

• You drive on the other side of the road
• You sit on the other side of the car
• Almost all cars are automatic
• Distances and speeds are in miles and miles per hour
• Volumes are in gallons
• You keep right (slow lane), pass left (fast lane)

If you’re trying to work out how much you’re paying for fuel, a gallon is 3.78 litres, so divide the gallon rate by that number to get the per litre rate. It roughly worked out to about R11-R12 per litre of fuel there but in California many cars are either hybrids (like the Prius) or have ultra fuel-efficient engines like the Ford’s Ecoboost range (which I drove), so you’ll get plenty of bang for your buck!

Collecting a rental car

This was a totally weird experience for me. I picked up my car from San Francisco International Airport where the car rental is a short, free airport train ride from the main airport building (just look for signs). You arrive at what looks like airline check-in desks right in front of the train doors. You go to the car hire company you rented through and hand them all your documents. They then swipe your card and tell you to proceed through the doors at the end of the room. Immediately you are in the garage and you follow the signs to the rental company’s section. This is where it gets weird. You look at the class of car on your rental documents (Small, Mid-size, Large, Mid-size SUV and so on) and proceed to the row of cars with that label. You then just climb into any car you fancy and drive off, the keys are in the car. They’ll scan you at the gate to link the car to your rental and that’s that.

Speed limits

I found the speed limits weird in California, the freeways have a maximum limit of 65 miles per hour which is a sleepy 104km/h. You’ll find few Americans breaking the speed limit, though a handful might, so get used to going a little slower than back home.

When you get on the highways however (don’t be fooled by the name, they’re the smaller roads somewhat similar to our R roads here) the speed limit is usually 55 miles per hour or 88km/h. I found this rather ridiculous as these roads are full of sharp bends where it’s sometimes not possible to go faster than 15 miles per hour, yet the American drivers in their big pick-up trucks tear around these corners at a hell of a lick.

Passing traffic in the USA

With that being said, let’s explain passing. The general rule is to keep right at all times and pass left, though many Americans ignore this and pass left, right or down the middle lane on freeways. However, you won’t be annoying anyone by obeying the rule. Always indicate when changing lanes or turning; Americans indicate for a good 50-100m before the actual turn, unlike our impulsive indicate-as-you-turn practice here in SA.

If you’re on the smaller highways you’ll see signs saying “turn out 1/4 mile”, a turn out is a short tarred or level gravel spot on the right side of the road for you to pull over and let the faster vehicles behind you pass. You indicate, pull over and come to a complete stop before checking if it’s safe to pull off and enter the road again. Occasionally there will be passing lanes, indicated by signs which are generally on inclines and are similar to our passing lanes on national roads, if a little shorter. You never overtake on a solid line.

In towns and at intersections

The speed limit generally drops to 35 miles per hour (56km/h) or 25 miles per hour (40km/h) in urban areas, locals are very serious about these urban speed limits, so stick to them! Most urban areas use stop streets and traffic lights, these work the same way as in South Africa for the most part with the exception of those turning right at traffic lights. If the traffic light is red for you, but you want to turn right, you are still permitted to do so after coming to a complete stop and checking that no traffic is coming from the left before making the turn. Essentially, a red light becomes a yield sign to those turning right.

Always give way to pedestrians at designated crossings or intersections, except when the light is green for you to go straight; turning right/left requires you to give way to pedestrians though, except when there’s a green arrow for the turning lane. Americans rarely jaywalk as it’s somewhat of a crime, but pedestrian crossings, without robots, are frequent and you must stop for pedestrians.

I was told that there are no traffic circles in America, this is a downright lie. There may be fewer than back home, but a few new urban intersections contain traffic circles. The rule is simple: it’s opposite to back home. You move anti-clockwise around the circle and yield to traffic on the left.

School buses, cop cars and bicycles

If a school bus is stopped on the side of the road and has its lights flashing and the little stop sign sticking out on the side of the bus, you must come to a complete stop behind the bus as children are crossing. With police and emergency vehicles stopped on the side of the road, you should pass slowly and widely around them (a full lane is recommended). Cyclists are royal game in the US, or at least in California, so keep a sizeable distance from them and proceed carefully – as the signs say “bikes are traffic too.”

Licence and registration

We’ve all heard it in the movies where the officer asks the driver for licence and registration. If you’re renting a car, you’ll have your SA drivers licence with you and maybe an international drivers licence too (I’m still not sure if this is needed, as each time I showed it to someone they looked puzzled, stared it briefly and then handed it back to me before checking out my SA drivers card). Your registration is a little white certificate in your glove compartment that looks quasi-official, though less so than our registrations in SA. Don’t remove this from your car!

Better than South Africa

The hooter, or “horn” as they call it in the States? Forget you have one. In South Africa your hooter is a tool used to express rage at your fellow road user so that you don’t have to risk jail time for physical assault. In the USA, it’s a tool to warn your fellow road user of a possible impending accident and with the relaxed and courteous manner in which drivers act there, you’ll probably never need to use it.

Everyone is super courteous on the road: people respect safe following distances, allow you into the lane when you indicate, give way to traffic from on-ramps, are mindful of pedestrians and are generally good citizens on the road. It’s something we could certainly learn from and it adds to a very peaceful driving experience. So if you’re worried about driving in the USA, you can rest assured that this nervous driver found it an absolute pleasure!