How to drive in the USA - A tourist's guide

A few years ago I went to the UK and rented a car there and found the transition to driving on the left quit easy. The rental agency looked at my US driver's license and immediately said they were out of automatics. I told them that I was among the 18% of Americans that knows how to drive a car with a manual shift. When I rented it I surprised myself by having no problem working the shift with my left hand.

I never realized our speed signs could be tough to spot. I am using two monitors, had the video on the right monitor (i.e. the side where I would expect to see a speed limit), and literally saw it out the corner of my eye. Just shows how people get trained into their habits!

You're a very good presenter! You should really consider making more videos!

For whom it may concern: the vast majority of passenger vehicles in the US use gasoline, not diesel :)

*I should have said unleaded instead of gasoline, lol. Thankfully, the nozzles for unleaded and diesel are different sizes here in the US. Diesel nozzles are usually larger.

Just so you know, the diesel fuel pump nozzle will not fit inside the gas filler of a gasoline car. It's too big to fit. If you rent a diesel, then you have to worry, but it's almost impossible to rent a diesel car at a rental agency.

tip with lanes, legally in most states slower traffic has to stick to the right and you must pass on the left. Especially smaller states, for example, Vermont follow that much more heavily and in those places you will get ticketed for being a lane hog or passing incorrectly. In other places it could possibly be considered ok to cruise in the second lane as well as passing on an inside lane but it could also possibly be frowned upon and you could be ticketed. in general its good to be aware and try to stick to what everyone around you is doing.

Throughout the states many road rules and signage are similar but lane rules do stray depending on the area. They, to be honest, mostly depend on what cops will ticket people for in that specific area. But if you follow what everyone else is doing you should be fine! At least where I am in Florida riding in the first two lanes is ok but if you lane hog in any of the other lanes or pass on the inside you will get a ticket.

I live in the USA, and I just gotta say that you are correct on pretty much everything

Great overview! The part about passing is that is should be done on the left, but some drivers act like it's a free for all. I cringe when I see drivers passing on the right.

I keep hearing Brits and Aussies talking about Hiring a car. To us Americans that sounds more like hiring an Uber or Taxi, because you are hiring, albeit temporarily, a person to drive you somewhere in their car. But apparently hiring a car to you all means Renting to us. Because you are temporarily borrowing a car from a rental car service or dealer (if your personal vehicle is in the shop). The word hiring denotes soliciting the work of another human being.

Thanks a bunch. You gave me confidence to drive ♥️

You were very polite in not mentioning the other reason why you're strongly advised to rent a car if coming to the US...except for a few cities, our mass transit is shit. XD

You can turn right on a red light but not if there is a sign that says you can’t! Double check, don’t assume you can turn every time 👌🏻

Brilliant video, keep up the good work!

@ 6:15 "lots of people over here using their mobile phone. Not sure if it's legal or illegal. " I laughed so hard at that. IT IS ILLEGAL, dont follow the others, they are just acting crazy.

Road Guy Rob made a video about a month back that easily describes American road sign and what their colors and shapes mean.

Very very very helpful. Thanks a lot. Left hand drive still worries me 😔

Its a great video. I feel more confident about my upcoming road trip

Great advice, cant wait to drive in the USA for the first time soon .

8:39. i am nitpicking but the HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lane is for vehicles with at least two people, not only two people

Very Good video. I will be travelling from the UK to the states for a short holiday in October. I wanted to know a bit about the tolls and how this would work out for a rental.? Thanks.

I lived in Qatar and is a bit combination of US and UK. You'll encounter a lot of round about but drives on the right side. Now going to immigrate in US and I'm scared haha. I have watched on other channel that if everyone is doing 90 on 45 they suggest to do same And I was like, thats almost 150 already lol.