• Welcome to the ShrimperZone forums.
    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which only gives you limited access.

    Existing Users:.
    Please log-in using your existing username and password. If you have any problems, please see below.

    New Users:
    Join our free community now and gain access to post topics, communicate privately with other members, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and free. Click here to join.

    Fans from other clubs
    We welcome and appreciate supporters from other clubs who wish to engage in sensible discussion. Please feel free to join as above but understand that this is a moderated site and those who cannot play nicely will be quickly removed.

    Assistance Required
    For help with the registration process or accessing your account, please send a note using the Contact us link in the footer, please include your account name. We can then provide you with a new password and verification to get you on the site.

International Driving Permit - Florida

Jam_Man

Life President
Joined
Apr 7, 2005
Messages
25,544
Location
Southend
Off to Florida soon and had an email from the villa owner saying I had to get an International Driving Permit as its a new law introduced on the 1st Jan 2013 but hardly publicised.

Never heard of it and checked RAC and Post Office but both say recommended only.

However the AA site shows :

R – USA (Florida) compulsory IDP – 1 January 2013
A law introduced in Florida, USA, on 1 January 2013 requires all persons who hold a licence issued outside of the US to carry an International Driving Permit along with their national driving licence. Without an IDP, a driver is therefore driving without a valid licence. If stopped, law enforcement has the options of:

Seems absurd as you cant get one without a driving license, so not sure what the point is. Only costs £5.50 so not a big thing but doesnt seem to be something anyone has heard of.

So something to bear in mind for any Florida bound people this year.
 
Interesting. Thanks for the heads up JM. I haven't been to Florida since November 2011, but I went every year before this time back to 2003 and always hired a car. Then my missus got up the duff and holiday budget has since shrunk to a long weekend in Scunthorpe for the foreseeable....Hoping to get back stateside in the next few years though.

Seems like another way of the US making extra money from us tourists like they did with the ESTA some time ago.
 
Indeed, Im not sure what having a card you get from the RAC does that having an official driving license based on competence testing proves.

If it wasnt for our villa owner I would have turned up without one, and if it caused an issue with the rental firm it would have totally screwed our holiday.

(PS This is our first holiday abroad in 7 years (since son was born) and only our second in 10 years since daughter was born ! Not a financial thing but never fancied the hassle with little kids. Been camping pretty much the last decade so this is a big one!)
 
I have generally found the villa owners to be the only ones who arm you with this kind of information as most holidays are "self planned" these days in that you probably booked the flights, then the villa and then the car hire (or a variant of that order) and therefore didn't have a travel agent to advise you. Astounds me that the car hire website didn't flash up as you were booking to alert you to the fact, but I can't say I'm surprised either to an equal degree!!

I am massively jealous though. I LOVE going and doing the Orlando thing.....The weather, the magic, the food.....Everything about it is just amazing! My wife and I often had cursory discussions about seeing the "real America" or doing the West Coast, but we always wound up back in Kissimmee which is probably not the best thing in terms of seeing the world....But there you go!

I think yours are the right age to take to Orlando though. I can't recall whether you said on other threads that you'd been to Orlando prior to your kids, but I can't wait to take our daughter there in a few years and relive the magic through her eyes....That would definitely be the highlight of the holiday for me!

I'm sure you're all booked up anyway now, but are you taking 2 weeks there? Are you spending any time anywhere else? I usually do a week or 10 days in Orlando and then a week North of Miami (Around Ft Lauderdale) where I visit my Dad in his holiday apartment. It's crazy that a 3 hour drive south often sees the temperatures rise from mid seventies to mid-eighties!
 
Nope never been to the US, pre-kids we used to holiday in teh Caribbean, so was a bit of a comedown to start camping, although grew to love it.

Time is right though, kids are 9 and 5 so good ages, both for Disney and for putting up with a long flight.

We are doing 2 weeks but intend to spend 8 days or so in parks and the rest we will get out to the coast etc and see a little bit more of Florida.
 
What time of year are you going?

The thing with Orlando is it is pretty far from most other places worth seeing, although Daytona Beach is in range, as is Kennedy Space Cente. You could also do St Petersburg about the same distance in the other direction. Of course there is Busch Gdns, but I assume thats included in the "Park Days" you mentioned
 
Late March.

We have tickets for the parks so will do most of them.

Looking also to go down to Clearwater in Tampa and theres a beach just south supposed to be nice. Only about an hour and twenty minutes from the villa as well.

Just as well I got told about the driving permit, would have made that impossible.
 
Should be a good time to go, although Easter might be an issue around the parks. I would aim to avoid the parks on the last weekend in March for that reason.

Never been to Clearwater, but I do hear good things about it.

So where do you actually buy the permit? online?
 
We luckily fly back at Easter so should miss some of the mayhem!

You can get the permits at selected Post Offices, Pitsea/Basildon being the closest as Southend dont do them. RAC do a postal application though, which is what Ill do to save the hassle.
 
Should be a good time to go, although Easter might be an issue around the parks. I would aim to avoid the parks on the last weekend in March for that reason.

Never been to Clearwater, but I do hear good things about it.

So where do you actually buy the permit? online?
Been at Easter twice before and never had any problem, except from the fact the Americans don't seem to do hot cross buns.

Got rellys out there now so if there's anything you need to know, I can check with them.
 
Been at Easter twice before and never had any problem, except from the fact the Americans don't seem to do hot cross buns.

Got rellys out there now so if there's anything you need to know, I can check with them.

Maybe, but you can't beat going in Jan/Feb/Mar/Oct/Nov for shorter queues on the rides.
 
Looks like this IDP rule for Florida will not be enforced. It was apparently introduced as Florida Police were having trouble translating some foreign driving licence's. It is unlikely they would not be able to read a UK issued licence!

You would not need to provide an IDP to hire a car.

Its a bit like the recent breathalyser law in France. Although it is a law, it will not be enforced with a fine if you do not have them in your car.

Another thing that gets me is that we make a big thing about getting beam deflectors on our lights for driving in Europe, but how many foreign vehicles are there in this country and do they ever have beam deflectors!
 
Looks like this IDP rule for Florida will not be enforced. It was apparently introduced as Florida Police were having trouble translating some foreign driving licence's. It is unlikely they would not be able to read a UK issued licence!

You would not need to provide an IDP to hire a car.

Its a bit like the recent breathalyser law in France. Although it is a law, it will not be enforced with a fine if you do not have them in your car.

Another thing that gets me is that we make a big thing about getting beam deflectors on our lights for driving in Europe, but how many foreign vehicles are there in this country and do they ever have beam deflectors!

For the sake of a fiver Ill get one so I dont have to worry, but thanks for that.

Any source to confirm that though for those that may not bother?
 
The Times travel supplement today confirms that it has been suspended until further notice.
 
Back
Top