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 QEEQ’ 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 /

May 12, 2022

Destination: San Diego

6.3V poor pickup experience

Pre-ordered baby seat wasn’t in car at pickup, had to drive 30 min to another Hertz outlet to pick it up. Very annoying.

W.Snyder

Destination: Philadelphia

10Great experience.

Beautiful roomy clean car with updated features.

J.Bustamante A

Destination: Miami

10Buen auto, precio ok,fácil recojo y devolución. Que mas!

No tuve mayor contacto con el personal del Alamo. Todo fue facil.

Roger

May 11, 2022

9Faultless

Excellent service from agent in San Diego.

CDGRKGO

Destination: Boise

10Excellent

Avis is always dependable in Boise.

H.DAHDOH

Destination: Los Angeles

7.7Bad experience

Lot of extra charge The price will be doubled after this charge And no any company refund the deposit Relly really bad experience

S.Pindoria

Destination: Phoenix

9.7Fantastic

Great service all round

L.Medrano

Destination: Dallas

9Dallas, 5 people, total success!

Había una fila larga pero avanzó rápido, tomamos 30 min aprox. El coche no estaba muy limpio pero tampoco estaba sucio.

8.3Buen servicio de QEEQ pero en el mostrador me vi forzada a comprar un seguro que no necesitaba

El vehículo estaba en buenas condiciones, pese a que yo contaba con un seguro, terminaron por venderme el de ellos argumentando que de otro modo no tendría todas las coberturas. Eso triplicó el valor final que tuve que pagar frente al valor de mi reserva original.

K.Zehnter

May 10, 2022

Destination: Fort Myers

8.3Very Good

Antwort nur in deutscher Sprache

Rodrigo Leite

Destination: Orlando

10Gostei, muito pratico e objetivo, encontrei o que precisava.

Carro atendeu as expectativas, sem problemas para encontrar no aeroporto, atendimento rapido, só faltou um atendimento em outro idioma sem ser o ingles, mas conseguimos resolver.

S.Strand

10Great car, bur costly upgrade fee from Hertz for one with built-in SatNav.

Car had a built in SatNav which was essential, but the upgrade was $280 ($20 dollars per day), over half again the $440 we paid QEEQ for the original booking.

C.Richards

Destination: Santa Ana

9.3Excellent

Nothing much to say. Everything went smooth and easy!

D.Rineer

Destination: Wilmington

10One of the highlights of the trip: Thank you, Hertz.

Did take a little while get the car, but everything was busy at Hertz and the other two agencies. My rep could not have been more professional and courtesy. I don't fly much any more, and I don't rent cars much, but I would/will certainly want another experience like this one.

C.Jay

Destination: Melbourne

9Excellent service, great car & competitive pricing.

Car was spacious and modern. Staff were a bit slow but seemed new so we were fine with this. Car was a bit scratched but I guess this is what you get with rental cars. Overall experience excellent.

Vishwas Shashidhar

9.3Great experience with Qeeq & Alamo

A very good car, great condition, well maintained & clean. Swift service & friendly staff.

M.Saunders

May 9, 2022

9.3The almost perfect car hire experience

The car was was brilliant. The sat nav helped immensely getting around Orlando, it even had the BudgerbCar rental drop off in its database.

Edwin Kiew

Destination: Las Vegas

10Awesome experience with both QEEQ and Alamo

The car exceed expectations, was given the opportunity to pick which vehicle that I preferred

Destination: Chicago

8.3QEEQとても便利で安心できます

Hertzのpresident circleを持っていたので、gold deskで対応してもらい、好きな車を選ばせてくれました

R.Dixon

Destination: Waikoloa Hawaii

9.3Good experience

We received an upgrade because the car we booked was not available

S.Porto

Destination: Medford

10It was a good experience.

Everything ok with Hertz. Good staffing.

D.Stanleigh

April 29, 2022

8.7Will use you again.

Car was good.Counter service slow but maybe a lot of people arrived at same time.Pick-up staff were a bit offhand saying help yourself we’re too busy to show you to your car..

G.Karlsson

8.7Pretty happy since I got an upgrade as the car I was supposed to get was not ok.

Please make sure to have more then 2 employees working at the counter, the waiting time on the evening of the 5th was almost 2 hours!

Jyoti Vora

April 28, 2022

Destination: Charlotte

8Very Good

Had to wait for counter staff who were not 100% sure ref the car type & options

T.CASSIDY

April 27, 2022

Destination: Oakland

10Efficient, Easy and Professional

Brilliant car, service and easy pick up and drop off.

m.musgrove

9.7Great car but very expensive

The car was better than expected plenty of room and a great drive

J.Nicholson

8Easy to book

They couldn't find my booking when I arrived so the process took longer than expected. It wasn't easy finding the pick up point at LAX

8.7Great app, terrible rental experience.

Waited over two hours to pick up my rental. The line was long and was not moving for hours because they were understaffed.

R.Flynn

April 26, 2022

Destination: Tampa

9.3Great, painless experience with QEEQ and Hertz!

My flight was delayed 24 hours, I called Hertz direct to let them know, it was no problem and they refunded me for the day that I didn't use. Pick-up and drop-off were both very quick, car was clean... everything went smoothly.

H.Giere

Destination: Raleigh

6.3It was good.

It took for ever on the couter.

D.Gowens

6.3Disappointing

Budget staff must be on some sort of bonus to up sell the "pay for your gas now" and "sun pass" options, the tuts and looks of disbelief, including rolling eyes, and shaking head, at the fact I did not want to pay for these was really over the top... The car turned out to be marked all over and the seats stained inside, the guy at the booth just shrugged his shoulders. Seems like the price of car hire has shot up but the standards have really dropped.

The car was old and tired and therefore expensive for what it was.

Destination: New Orleans

8Super et rapide

Surclassement sans frais..toutes les assurances incluses

8Rapide et conforme

Rapide et véhicule mieux que prévu !!

S.DE LA GARZA AQUINO

10Buena Experiencia.

Todo estuvo excelente sin ningún contratiempo.

C.Hausmann

Destination: North Charleston

7.3Terrible

Car was supposed to be 100% smoke free and had a terrible marijuana smell we couldn’t get rid of and they didn’t have similar cars so we couldn’t switch it

D.Ritchie

April 25, 2022

10The rental was hastle free and value for money

The car was what we required and happy with the vehicle

Diga

RAS véhicule parfait niveau gabarit pour un séjour à l'étranger en couple.

Mike S

10An overall faultless experience

Faultless

Jenn W

Destination: Seattle

9Not great

Fox was awfully slow to give us a car - nearly 2 hours!!!, and everything seemed disorganized.

g.connery

6.3Average

A lot of upselling and add ons at the desk especially various insurances. Upgraded to premium at extra cost. Car was tired, 31k + miles, windows didnt shut properly. Rattles from back of car.

JNM

7.3Great price however the car quality poor.

The car was not very clean, had a cracked windscreen which we didn’t notice until the following morning. It also had no parcel shelf. When you collect a car at Orlando you do so in poorly light multi story car park. The car had done 44000 miles and wasn’t pleasant to drive. We have hired lots of cars in the USA from ALAMO, DOLLAR, AVIS & HERTZ and that was the worst.

d.Nye

Destination: Nashville

8.7Good value and a great car

We were a little confused at pick up as we came to the airport by private car. We found the pick up point but thought we were at the wrong place as it said it was for gold members dropping off. As there was a queue we couldn’t ask a staff member and a person in the queue told us we were at the wrong place. Some clearer signage would have helped us

F.Sanchez

April 24, 2022

Destination: Hawaii - Oahu Island (honolulu)

7Seriedad y profesionalidad

Mucha cola en los mostradores para recogida,y poco personal atendiendo(solo 2 personas). Mucha seriedad como compañia.Atención perfecta,tanto en mostrador de recogida como en devolución.

S.Badaoui

April 21, 2022

Destination: San Antonio

2Terrible. Necesito reembolso

No pude recoger el auto porque me pedían mi visa americana, yo soy residente americano y les entregue mi green card. No me la quisieron aceptar porque insistieron que co pasaporte Mexicano tenían que poner información de la visa. Les expliqué que esa era mi visa pero no me quisieron aceptar la documentación y no me entregaron el carro.

Les Weath

Destination: Port Charlotte

9.7Nice car, simple pickup /dropoff, excellent service

Excellent service, counter staff really helpful and very pleasant to deal with

jamie Horastead

April 20, 2022

7Bad

The vehicle was not fit for rental, for the whole 500 mile journey the air bag alarm kept going off, very worrying when you past 2 fatal accidents. I reported this to Alamo / enterprise, but I’ve heard nothing back from them, which I find exceptionally bad.

a.hodgson

Destination: San Francisco

9.7Good

Hertz should have informed us about california road tolls and how to set up system to pay them. We found out too late ! Not good

MJB

9Easy, no fuss and great price!

A bit of a wait at the rental desk. There was one person sat at the desk who wasn’t seeing anyone but it turned out she was training so fair enough! The people I did interact gave top notch customer service. Car was as expected - it had a few scuffs and scratches but for the price I was happy enough. One gripe - the person who brought it round forgot to put the handbrake on so the car started rolling away as we put our luggage in!! Managed to jump in and grab the hand brake without too much issue though. Drop off very easy - staff super friendly again! Overall would recommend!

Driver 64

7.7Good

No flexibility to Change without additional money the drop off station in the Same City

United States Car Rentals