The first time we travelled to the US together was to Arizona in 2009 – we had both been separately and I had done a number of road trips while over there (Georgia to Florida and later San Fran to LA). Jonathan had never driven there (or on the “wrong side” of the road anywhere). Back in 2009 when we rented a car to drive to Sedona and the Grand Canyon I started the drive and it wasn’t until day 2 that I pulled into a carpark and got out and told Jon to get in and try. I didn’t drive for the rest of the trip as Jon found a love for the wide open roads in northern Arizona.
This trip started in LA – often viewed as one of the worst cities in the world traffic wise (although TomTom doesn’t seem to agree and ranks Dublin much worse so we decided to risk it). We came prepared though.
- Travel with you children’s own car seats: We brought Rory’s car seat with us. All flights will allow you to check a car seat for free as oversize luggage. While it keeps costs down, it’s also cleaner and less risky as car rental companies can’t always guarantee they’ll have the seat size/brand etc you want.
- Bring a game for the rental queue wait: Uno has saved us a few times already this trip but it’s a portable and easy way to pass the 20/30 mins of rental car queueing when you arrive at peak times.
- Don’t be afraid to haggle for the car you want. There are two ways to do this – 1: at the desk (where they are going to charge you to upsell) 2: in the carpark where the car is being picked up. Ask nicely, you’ll often be offered a choice of cars within your selected category, or ask *very* nicely and you may just get lucky and get an upgrade. Remember, your idea of an upgrade may not align with theirs, so it’s useful to describe what you’re looking for and see what happens.
What we weren’t prepared for
7 Lane freeways – actually ok once you’re on them, just keep an eye on your own lane and the ones either side. Just remember to give yourself lots of time to get the the righthand lane well ahead of your exit.
Mental traffic
Crazy rules of the road – at a 4 way stop, where you’d normally expect traffic lights, there’s just 4 stop signs. First in, first out – fun if you all go to start off at the same time! Not to mention that stop signs in built up areas are very easy to miss if you’re not careful!
HOV Lanes
High Occupancy Lanes are a feature on some freeways where the leftmost lane is dedicated to vehicles with more than one passenger, and/or cars that have stickers allowing their use regardless as they are designated as low polluting vehicles. You can see them below designated with the diamond symbol. Our car qualified for this as it was electric, meaning we could use this lane even with just a driver in the car. Lanes are monitored by camera, with sizable fines for non-compliance.
Turn right on red
Since January 1, 1980, all 50 states and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have had laws permitting right-turn-on-red unless a sign prohibits the turn. This one catches a lot of foreigners out. Unless you have a sign explicitly prohibiting it (or a dedicated red light for right turns) you can *and are expected to* turn right on a red light. Don’t worry, you’ll soon be reminded by the car behind if you forget!
