Driving in the USA

[ruffrider27]

observe school zones the speed limit is 15 km at certain times, weekdays between 7:30/9:30 am and after 2:30/ 4:00 pm very important yellow and black signs, state troopers and patrols will be looking out for law breakers ,you will notice everyone driving crawling lol.

most cars will have DRL

certain states GPS devices the suction cup mounted on the windshield is illegal , New York is one of them.

[SMc]

MPH...just saying before he get shouted at for going too slow.

BTW if everyone know the rules and willing to drive properly in other people countries why doeas almost everyone still drive like toots in TT?

[cadman]

urmmm.. u can be ticketed for driving too slow in the fast lane......failure to signal when changing lanes or turning will also get you ticketed....observe posted speed limits in construction zones. fines are automatically doubled if you get a ticket

[Chimera]

MPH...just saying before he get shouted at for going too slow.

BTW if everyone know the rules and willing to drive properly in other people countries why doeas almost everyone still drive like toots in TT?

Police doh bother u down here for speeding once yuh tint not too dark

[Miktay]

One more thing: Avoid driving in LA.

[neexis]

[evil_twin]

Google Florida mover over law and keep that in mind for those who plan on driving there

[Xplode]

buy a garmin ,car rental company will charge the cost price to rent a gps device

[Chimera]

have some input/advice of my own from a experience i had last week in miami

as well as some questions and looking for advice

i went miami last week sunday- tuesday
gone up by alamo to rent a car...they tell me $270 us for 3 days

i ask them why so high.....they say thanksgiving week alot of demand

i went across by dollar, they tell me $250 us for 3 days...thanksgiving week...alot of demand


so on my phone i pull up expedia, choose the days.....and it was coming up to $170 us. i did this in front of the car rental rep...
he say "okay let me see what i can do for you"
click click click...he drop the price to $190 us...he say that includes insurance


now with most credit cards.....they have some type of insurance coverage...but it have so much different types of insurance
most cards have a collision damage waiver....

a car rental rep told me a few months ago that i need to have some sort of insurance coverage from them in case the police stop me,i need to show them i have insurance. i think that was personal liability insurance....i assumed its like in trinidad you need atleast 3rd party coverage
but is that accurate?



there are also websites like this
https://www.worldwideinsure.com/car-hire-insurance.htm

that supposedly give you yearly multitrip insurance.....
anyone ever used one of those?

i find them car rental reps does throw allyuh kinda thing at yuh



another bit of advice
buy a portable sunpass from cvs and load it up with your credit card rather than using the car rental daily fees or worse yet, not having paid the daily fee and get jam with the penalty fees

[pete]

At least you didn't get the "Ok sir this is a drivers permit, do you have a license on you?" like I did in Chicago. Had to call her supervisor then he had to make the final decision..

I told her "It's a license, it's just what the license is called in my country" but she I guess didn't want to get in trouble.

WRT insurance I believe that there's some way your insurance on your car in Trinidad can be used there as well. I've never utilised that but apparently our broker has told my dad he could do that.

[Chimera]

ive read that if you have insurance abroad that it most likely extends to your rental car as well, didnt know if would apply to trinidad insurance.....

have to look into that


INSURANCE

Supplemental Liability Insurance ("SLI") - U.S. Locations (Excluding Texas) - At most rental locations from $8.95 to $12.99 per day.
SLI - Florida Only - At most Florida rental locations for $10.99 per day.
Texas Automobile Rental Liability Insurance ("TARL") - $9.29 per day.
Personal Protection Plan ("PPP") - U.S. Locations (Except Florida) - $5.45 or $8.45 per day based on seating capacity.
Personal Accident and Effects Coverage ("PAE") - Florida Only - $5.99 to $6.99 per day at most Florida rental locations.
Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Protection ("UMP") - U.S. Locations (Excluding Florida). Provides Renter, Authorized Driver and occupants of Vehicle, while operated by Renter or Authorized Driver, with coverage for injuries and damages caused by owner or driver of uninsured or underinsured third party vehicle. It is excess over any uninsured motorist insurance available to renter and provides up to $1,000,000 combined single limit per occurrence. Only available at limited number of Thrifty locations at $5.99 to $6.99 per day.

[Xplode]

All that drama you all go tru
Just go to Lazzari & Sampson Travel Service Ltd #24 Ana St Trinidad Woodbrooke ,Hertz local agent
book your rental ,type of vehicle pay for everything insurance included ,they give you a coupon to take to the Hertz counter anywhere in USA or Canada ,for Caribbean travelers you pay a $50 USD cash deposit when you returned you can have it used for fuel ,no credit card needed.
Hertz have the best and new clean vehicles.

[Chimera]

good info ^^ never even knew about that option

[Xplode]

good info ^^ never even knew about that option

they even have special codes they put in to get 20% to 40% discount.

[Chimera]

i also have a platinum visa card with rbl, have a couple benefits with hertz with that

[Xplode]

i also have a platinum visa card with rbl, have a couple benefits with hertz with that

you get CAL FF miles with Hertz tru Lazzari & Sampson
Another note the staff at Hertz will always try to up sell , insurance is included in the coupon ,have my personal GPS Garmin ,one note the VW Jetta is the best mid size car on fuel good for long distance the Lincoln Town and Country minivan for large Family good on gas too ,from Miami to Orlando Disney world the jetta used $20 us all Hertz offers unlimited mileage and you can drop off at any Hertz location and take the Hotel shuttle straight to the airport no need for dropping off and have to hassle back to your terminal gate to check in, i always use Hyatt -West Doral there's a Hertz 1 minute away.

[pete]

At 250 miles any car would probably run you $20 for that trip..

I did about 100 miles in Houston a few weeks ago and squeezed $7 in before I dropped the car back.

Was a Versa which was brand new and the WORST car I have ever driven.

[Chimera]

xplode

this gps is good ?

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Navigator- ... ywords=gps

[cinco]

I just use nav free on my phone.
A mini van is the best value for.money wrt to size and capacity in a rental Once u have 3 or.more folks.
I had a rental jetta in Vegas the transmission is horrid in traffic

[bgh]

xplode

this gps is good ?

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Navigator- ... ywords=gps

I bought that in August, shipped it to Trinidad and used it for the 2 weeks I was in orlando. It took me to the both coast and then some with no issues.

[cornfused]

Rented in Baltimore recently Alamo , 10 days , minimal insurance and an ezee pass $500+ . The car chosen was a corolla , used that in Mia last year covered some real miles , everglades , downtown, ft FT Lauderdale etc , did not have to put in gas , the credited me some cash for the remaining gas .

This time there was an "upgrade" to a Jetta , we all know of the VW challenges with the quality of the safety systems . It was good on gas , again did lots of miles . Driving in the US is pretty easy , from my experience , only the driving in Washington DC , resembled what we experience here at least me in the East - West corridor.

I also have a Garmin GPS after paying to rent it last year with lifetime US maps . However google maps or Waze can also be used once cheap data can be had on a mobile device .

[pete]

I prefer to use Google Navigation for the ease in finding places. Only advantage those have is they display the speed limit so you know if you're going too fast or slow.

[Chimera]

pete but you would need a data plan to use google navigation not so?

my issue is that when i go....i need gps as soon as i reach to be able to get around with a rental car


usually i buy those 1 month unlimited data calls text simcards for $65 USD

but most of my trips are only 2 days long so its only worth it if im there twice in a month

however if i buy the garmin....i would be able to get around as soon as i get a car so then i could go get the tmobile $3 a day package

[cinco]

Digicel roaming is 99ttd and u pay 1 dollar per text 1 dollar a min for outgoing calls and 1 dollar per mb data. It works out cheaper than those prepaid cards.
Oh free incoming calls

[Chimera]

i now call digicel and their automated service says those roaming rates are in us

however i call a padna in digicel and he says the rates are all in TT
you hadda call digicel before and tell them to up the credit limit on your account
then dial *303# to Sign up for our US One Rate Roaming Plan for only $99 (Vat ex)

and it will be valid for 30 days from that point

[cinco]

So yuh feel I lyin? D mc I does have that plan on for at least 5 months ah d year lol btw it worked even in cozumel and belize

[Chimera]

in 16 days on whatsapp ive sent a total of 32mb and received 11mb

i guess its a good option to use if only being abroad for 2-3 days
use wifi where you can
only use phone for calls and whatsapp
garmin for gps?

waze seems to be very low data usage as well but im not sure

[Chimera]

So yuh feel I lyin? D mc I does have that plan on for at least 5 months ah d year lol btw it worked even in cozumel and belize

i had to make sure lol

i eh want to come home to a $5000 bill after a week

[pete]

My dad has a Garmin that I borrow til I can get a sim card or what I did recently is bought a t-mobile sim that is on a $3/month plan and whenever I'm there I add a week of data for $10.

I share it with my family as well so whenever they are in the US they can get data.

[Chimera]

pete does that simcard expire if you dont use it for a month?