The United States traffic rules and self driving car rental tips

The Complete United States Driving and Rental Guide

The United States is usually more suitable for automobile compared to public transportations. Travelling by car is thus a good way to get around to see sights of the country, whether you are planning a complete road trip, or just using a leg of your trip by taking a car to visit the cities. Here is a guide we have prepared to help you familiarized yourself with driving in the USA.

Speed Limit and Traffic Signs

Driving is on the right with the steering wheel on the left-hand side of the car. Since traffic rules differ from state to state, it is better to review the regulations for each individual state in which you are planning to drive. Pedestrians have the legal right of way in all states.

Speed Limit

The speed limit varies from state to state, butis of 65 miles per hour (equals110 km p/h) in the majority of the states. Speed limit is frequently monitored by radar guns.

Traffic Signs

Many US states comply with the same road signs standard, but some of the states and large cities such as New York City have adopted an extent of localization or a supplement.

Although there is a variety of regulatory signs throughout different states, they are usually self-explanatory, with explicit wordings marked on the signs.

Stop

Yield(Give Way)

United_States_of_ America_Traffic_Sign__Yield_to_Pedestrians

Yield to Pedestrians, New York City

Passing Zone Ends

Passing Zone Begins

No Parking

No Parking; Here to corner

No Parking; Except Sundays

Among regulatory signs, there is one category which indicates ‘No Standing’, and may be unfamiliar for foreign visitors or international travellers. ‘No standing’ signs indicate that stopping temporarily to load or unload passengers is allowed, while parking is not allowed. The signs are also usually red on white, but local variations exist.

No Standing Any Time

No Standing Any Time New York State

No Standing Cars Towed Away, Baltimore

Warning signs feature yellow background colour and black pictogram, with a few exceptions.

Road Slippery When Wet

Curve With Speed Advisory

Stop Ahead

Yield Ahead

Railroad Crossing(Crossbuck)

Railroad Crossing Ahead

Information signs provide guidance and feature rectangular shape.

Toll Road Pass Only

Toll Road Pass or HOV 2+

Toll Costs at Intersections or HOV 2+

Hospital Sign

You may refer to this for the unified standard that is used by the states.

Seatbelt and Child Safety

Seatbelt Laws

All drivers and passengers are regulated by law to wear seatbelts. A fine applies if a driver or passenger is caught without a seatbelt on.

Booster Seat Laws

Even though regulations vary by state, almost all states require children to be in a child seat facing backwards in the front of a car, or facing forward in the rear. As a minimum guide, children should use a booster seat until they reach 36kg to 45kg or 145cm high.

For a specific guidance regarding child safety rules, you may click here.

Parking, Fuel and Toll

Parking

You must always park in the direction of the traffic flow on the near side of the road. Often, parking spaces are diagonally aligned and ‘head-in’, which means the front of your car must be facing the pavement (sidewalk).

· Parking Restriction

In some cities, parking restrictions are indicated by the kerb colour; for example, a red kerb indicates no parking at any time, a yellow kerb may signify a limited truck loading zone, a green kerb indicates a limited parking period, a blue kerb for disabled parking only, and a white kerb passenger loading and unloading. No parking areas, for example, at street corners, may be indicated by yellow lines. Therefore, you should always read all pavement markings carefully.

United States Red Kerb No Parking (Image from aarestriping.com)

United States Yellow Lines No Parking (Image from merchantcircle.com)

United States Yellow Kerb Loading Only (Image from timeout.com)

· Paid Parking

Parking in most cities and towns isn’t usually a problem and on-street parking is usually metered, along with permissive parking signs specified with a restricted amount of time. It’s advisable for you to estimate your parking time and reserve a bit more parking fee as a precaution to avoid the fine for overtime parking.

The signs are green and white, and local variations do occur with additional information or slightly different designs.

Parking with Time Restrictions

Parking With Time Restrictions New York City

Fuel Prices

The average price for USA gasoline and diesel during July to October 2017 is US$0.74.

Toll

It has more than 5,000 miles of toll roads in the USA. From bridge and tunnel tolls to express and high occupancy lanes, most states have some sort of toll road system.

Nowadays most tolls are collected electronically via transponders that are typically placed on the windshield of the vehicle. As many toll roads no longer accept cash. It is recommended to check the individual websites of each state's toll system to inform yourself about the payment options along with your route.

If you are hiring a vehicle from Enterprise, National or Alamo in the USA, you can review and pay the tolls online via Highway Toll Administration site; if hiring from Avis or Budget, you can check the e-toll site. For Hertz, Dollar, Thrifty and Advantage, toll charge can be checked on PlatePass.

Traffic Violation

DUI Laws

Depending on states, drivers are charged with a fine or a crime with 0.08% or 0.05% BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) limit by volume.

Traffic Fines

Extra care should be applied to abide speed limit when driving in the United States, as speeding fines can be ranging from $36 to $1000 for first-time breaker states by states. A Nation-wide average speeding ticket is US$150.

Failing to understand and follow the parking signs will potentially result in a hefty fine. This is especially the case for big cities like San Francisco, New York City and Chicago. For example, stopping, standing or parking where signs, road markings or traffic control devices do not permit you to do so will incur a fine of US$115 in New York City. In San Francisco, obstructing traffic without a permit in San Francisco will result in a fine as high as US$1000.

Failure to pay traffic infringement fines will likely result in your car rental company collecting the fee from you, with an additional administration charge. These policies are generally illustrated in the terms of the contract on which you signed at the rental desk. For any further questions concerning these matters, you are welcomed to contact EasyRentCars’ 24/7 customer service team for assistance.

Driving Licence and Age Requirements

To drive in the United State, the driver must have a valid driving licnece that has been held for at least 1 or 2 years(according to different car hire company). The licence must be valid at the time of rental, and remain valid throughout the rental period.

The minimum age to rent a vehicle in most locations in the U.S is 21 years (age may vary by state and car category), and the driver must have a valid driver's license held for at least one year. For certain specialty and larger-sized vehicles, the minimum age of 25 years of age applies. If you're 21-25, you are likely to have to pay a young driver fee which is about $25-per-day to $50-per-day.

Guest reviews

1 /

W.Snyder

July 10, 2020

Destination: Philadelphia

7.3Best price car rental.

No one told us you need to call to have the shuttle pick you up from the airport.

Destination: Las Vegas

9.7excellent

waited to long and not clear on the drop off

N.Borisov

Destination: Denver

5.7Newer will use again!

Dirtiest car I ever rented in my life also I paid for Gmc Yukon or similar but got Dodge Durango that lower class. Overal this was my first and last time I used this company for car rentals

July 9, 2020

7.3What you expect from a car rental.

The time in the rental building was normal. The wait for the shuttle was terrible.

t.zhangbo

Destination: Orlando

10Excellent

very nice!!!!

10very good!

very nice

Victor Camacho

Destination: Miami

6.7It was everything good. I did not expect to pay $80.00 extra for insurance.

The car did thw job even thought I was expecting a Ford Fiesta.

D.Scott

10Awesome trip and a great car

Everything about the car he ran it was great the only trouble we had is the shuttle it broke down from the airport to the rental location in the pouring rain storm but it was my fault all worked out

P.Vue

Destination: Minneapolis

9.3Great, would rent from them again.

Very friendly, informative and helpful staff.

E.Gary-Jackson

July 8, 2020

Destination: Albany

8I’m not going to be renting from dollar again

I was charged 800 for 2 days? Did I buy the car? 800 for a Chevy spark? I feel like I got ripped off and will never rent from dollar again

July 7, 2020

Destination: Milwaukee

10Good

Excellent

J.Paigly

Destination: San Jose

8Very Good

I was allowed to book my reservation and even pay prior...how ever upon pick up is when I met with complications . where as I could not pay some deposit with my card...your company has allowed a person's to use debit cards but in limited capacity....

D.Morgan

Destination: West Palm Beach

6.7It was just ok.

The counter staff was excellent, but having to take a shuttle from the airport to pick up the car. I specifically look for on-site rentals to save time. It was difficult to find the shuttle location since the airport counter was closed then we hade to take another company’s shuttle to pick up the car.

Aleksei Alekseev

July 6, 2020

Destination: New York

8.3Very Good

the price when paying is much different from the promised one. impose insurance. as a result, renting a car is more expensive

M.Traynor

July 3, 2020

Destination: Santa Fe

10Had a great experience using QEEQ for the first time

Both the Hertz representative and the vehicle exceeded my expectations.

M.Canton

July 2, 2020

Destination: San Antonio

10Bieno

Bueno

M.Tice

July 1, 2020

Destination: Ontario

5Horrible car.

The car was not cleaned when we got it. Rings from a drink and it smelled horrible. It smelled liked someone peed in the car. The car was also a old crappie car. Will not recommended them. The wZit time on the shuttle and time to get the car was over 70 minutes.

c.foster

Destination: Los Angeles

9.7Good

I had just returned a car to pick this car up and had to wait in a long line for over 30 minutes. Other than that it was smooth from that point.

D.Oliver

7.3MISLEADING

Good

June 30, 2020

Destination: Santa Ana

9.3Fair

Cheap, but never give you car you preserve

L.Sciba

Destination: Ft Lauderdale

8.7Please Fix your phones and shuttle service from Ft Lauderdale airport to your rental site!!!!!

The car was great, the very best price! But, shuttle service at Ft Lauderdale airport To pick up car was nonexistent. No one answered the phone, voicemail not working, and I ended up having to take a taxi to pick up the car from Green Motion. Drop off was much better.

A.Rawlins

June 29, 2020

Destination: Pittsburgh

9Smooth transaction

Staff aas very patient and helpful.

Destination: Fort Lauderdale

10Most enjoyable rental.

Very enjoyable experience

Destination: Hawaii - Oahu Island (honolulu)

Great service!

Brad

June 28, 2020

9.7Easy to rent, good prices

Easy pickup, choose from pick of cars in a section at LAX

B.Nunnery

Destination: Greenville

8Good

Guy at the counter did not look at paperwork.

6.7Never going to rent with YesAway ever again in my life!

No shuttle to the place from the airport as advertised. Had to pay for a taxi! Absolutely horrendous! Their customer service barely speaks any English!

Destination: Washington

9NSTR

NSTR

June 23, 2020

10Buena

Buena atención Me respetaron los seguros adquiridos

S. Downing

June 22, 2020

10QEEQ served my needs well and saved me stress. I will use them again for sure. They are a blessing!

The truck we rented exceeded our expectations! It had 5000 miles on it and was a dream. We used it to move some household items.

D.Sunderland

Destination: Cincinnati

9.7Excellent

Worked with Pedro. He was very good quick and an easy process. No car available but he got me a fresh cleaned suv that was brand new.. Great professional worker

J.Langat

June 17, 2020

Destination: Birmingham

The two staff members were very nice and cordial.

June 16, 2020

Destination: Charlotte

7Fix the signs at the airport

Signage at the airport is terrible

Mantas

June 15, 2020

Destination: Norfolk

8Everything is was good until I toked not so clean car.

Car was not clean. Paper towels were left in different spots. Tank was not full of gas.

Amy

June 9, 2020

Destination: Ithaca

10Smooth process for pickup and return

With covid19 business was minimal but service rep was very nice and helped with out questions. I don’t normally use hertz due to price and service. This time it was a good experience.

June 8, 2020

Destination: Jacksonville

4.3Bad

The car wasn’t very clean and stinks of cigarettes so bad. This is my second rental in less than a month that the car stinks of cigarettes. Unacceptable.

S.Badzzzini

June 2, 2020

10Супер

Очень приятный персонал! Хороший выбор машин.

J.Floyd

Destination: Killeen

10Excellent experience...

Car met the need and my expectations.

C.Adrian

May 31, 2020

10Nice trip

I take a new toyota camry. Almo staff was very helpful

H.Zhou

May 30, 2020

Destination: Irvine

3.3Poor

Always terrible

O.Federman

5.7Average

Never go back.

C.Vega

May 29, 2020

10Perfect

Excellent service

C.Lucana

May 28, 2020

10routes is a great company with super customer service, would suggest to friends.

very fast and friendly customer service.

10EXCELLENT, CLEAN AND COURTEOUS!

THE DESK PERSON WAS VERY CLEAN AND RESPECTFUL OF SOCIAL DISTANCING VERY WELL. THE CAR WAS SPOTLESS!

T.Burk

2.7No show service

Never showed for pickup. Said they closed at 9:30 so why would they allow a reservation at that time? Also at the time of booking hours were 24, then the changed them without telling us. So I was left stranded at the airport. Could not reach them by phone and tried calling since 9:20 pm. Will never use fox again. They didn't even apologize for their error. Poor customer service!

J.Hall

8Pain in the ass getting the car at LAX from thrifty

Thrifty’s LAC office is closed due to covid. They didn’t say so on the reservation. Thrifty had a sign that said they were closed, but didn’t tell me I needed to go to Hertz to pick up the car. Better communication would be helpful!

May 25, 2020

9Excellent

I am ordered full size care but get minivan.

D.Rivera

May 23, 2020

8.7Bien

No encontraba el lugar de alquiler en el aeropuerto

R.Maupin

May 22, 2020

4Average

Paid for a Lyft to Fox and unfortunately pulled out the wrong credit card after that they wouldn't let me change cards or rent from them again until the next day. Poor policy for travelers especially when it's a mistake.

May 20, 2020

Destination: Reno

8Fast and Easy !

Always friendly !

United States Car Rentals