American Driving Laws

Rule Number 1: The bigger, uglier car always has right of way.

Rule Number 2: Never, ever, make eye contact.

—Car Talk

Some basics:

• Americans drive on the right-hand side of the road. One-way streets are, of course, an exception.
• There are three lights on a traffic signal. Bottom (or right side if the signal is horizontal) is green, which means you can proceed. Center is yellow or amber, and means "if you are approaching the intersection but have not crossed the line you need to stop^[1]" but in cities it's usually taken as "if you ain't crossed the line, speed up!" Top or far left is Red, which means stop and remain stopped until the light turns green (except for turns, as explained below). If there is a green arrow you can turn on a red light in that direction without stopping. Or there can be a red arrow when you're at a green light, which means that even though you have a green light you can't turn that way until you get a green arrow.
• If you're at a red light, after you stop, you can turn right from the far right lane. If you're at a one-way street moving to your left, then you're permitted to turn left on a red light after stopping. However, this does not apply in New York City or any intersection where there is a "No Turn on Red" sign posted.
• Speed and distance are more often than not (and by this we mean almost always) measured using American Customary Measurements; you may, for example, be told that you are 108 miles from Chicago, on a stretch of highway allowing travel at 55 miles per hour. Although it may vary by region, the rule goes that if there is no speed limit sign (and there rarely isn't) then the speed limit is the automatic default of 35 miles per hour (56 kilometers per hour) on local roads and 55 miles per hour (about 88 kilometers per hour) on highways.
• The United States is a big country, with a lot of nothing, and not a lot of reason for some of these communities to keep their streets compact. Street networks can be relatively well developed, but most Americans aren't surprised at commutes of 30 minutes. Or more. Indeed, in some metropolitan areas, daily commutes of over an hour are common.
• American Federalism means that State Governments are responsible for driving laws and roads within their borders. Even the 'Interstate' highways are built and maintained by the various state governments, albeit with significant federal financial support. Most State governments also maintain state highway systems while local roads and streets are typically a local government responsibility. Regulation and enforcement are entirely a state responsibility (with local enforcement delegated to local governments) though the national government ("federal government" in American parlance) can and does encourage certain policies using the power of the purse.
• Automobile ownership is extremely common in the USA - prior to the 2008 economic collapse, there were more cars owned in America than there were licensed drivers - and virtually everyone who can drive does so (with the exception of inhabitants of large cities, such as New York City, that have subway systems). While not everyone owns an automobile, practically everybody is licensed to drive one -- it's a major rite of passage, especially in rural and suburban areas. As a result, U.S. licensing requirements and driving laws tend to be very straightforward, sensible and practical with little or no quirks or hidden "gotchas" for the unwary.
• Licenses are standardized as a result of federal law into four classes.
  • Class C is the standard 'passenger' license, you can drive anything under 26,001 pounds. You cannot carry passengers for hire. You also can't drive a motorcycle without a separate endorsement.
  • Class B is the standard for bus drivers and taxicab operators. Allows driving anything weighing over 26,000 pounds and tow anything under 10,001 pounds, and can carry passengers for hire. Same rule as Class C for motorcycles.
  • Class A is a commercial truck driver's license. You can drive just about anything, including vehicles weighing more than 26,000 pounds and towing over 10,000. But you still can't drive a motorcycle. (As noted below, you can also have additional qualifications, such as ability to carry hazardous materials.)
  • Motorcycle endorsement is added if you have a license in one of the other classes, otherwise you have a motorcycle license. So it is possible to only be licensed to drive motorcycles and not allowed to drive a car.
• Because of the requirement that you can only be sued where you live or would normally expect to be "hailed into court" it used to be that if you were rear-ended or otherwise involved in an accident by someone who lived in another state, you had to hire a lawyer in that state in order to sue them. This changed with a special agreement called the "Interstate Driver's Compact" that has been agreed to by Congress, all 50 states, the District of Columbia and all U.S. territories, and all Canadian Provinces. It means that as a condition of being able to drive outside your own state, you appoint the head of the drivers' license bureau for the state where you were driving as your agent for service of process. So the plaintiff can now sue you either in the state where the accident occurred or in your home state.

Speed limits are set by local and state authorities. For a number of years in The Seventies and The Eighties, the federal government attempted to subtly enforce a nationwide 55 mile per hour limit (originally conceived as an economic measure to save gas, but later re-characterized as a safety program) via financial coercion, then allowed 65, then stopped caring as much. Nowadays almost no states outside the Northeast have regular interstate speed limits set that low - 65mph and 70mph are the most common. One state (Montana) even tried eliminating fixed daytime speed limits completely, but this particular experiment in libertarianism was ended after some drivers severely abused the "safe for current conditions" requirement and the courts held that it was too subjective to be enforced by law.

Licensing requirements vary from state to state but are similar in general outline: Licenses are available relatively young (typically around age 16) and "Learners Permits" that allow users to begin instruction are often available at even younger ages, 14 or 15 depending on the state. Many American high schools offer driver education as part of their standard or supplementary curriculum, and attaining a driver's license is often seen as a teen rite of passage, their "ticket to freedom" (or at least the mall) though more and more states now mandate some form of limited or graduated license for drivers below the age of 18^[2]. A basic operator's license (the exact terminology varies state to state) typically authorizes the licensee to operate any automobile or light truck up to 26,000 lbs (which is not coincidentally the size of a typical rental moving van) and is often a prerequisite for more advanced licenses.

Drivers of "big rigs" (anything over 26,000 lbs, including the iconic "18 wheelers") must qualify for a commercial driver's licence, or CDL. Basic CDL requirements are more or less uniform across all states since they fall under the federal government's authority to regulate interstate commerce, though states are allowed to impose additional requirements (often called "endorsements") over and above the basic federal requirements for things like special vehicle equipment (such as air brakes or semi-trailers) or the transportation of passengers or hazardous materials. Given the potentially tragic consequences of an inexperienced driver or one on the verge of a sudden heart attack behind the wheel of a massive vehicle a CDL normally requires the holder to both maintain certification (either through testing or experience) and pass an annual health check as well (though the latter is sometimes honored "in the breach".)

Motorcycles usually require their own class of licence, either as a separate license or as endorsement, but otherwise are treated like cars at least as far as the law's concerned. Motorbikes (a motorcycle with an engine with less than about 40 horsepower) are treated with less seriousness than motorcycles; some states allow anyone 16-or-older to ride a motorbike, or require a driver's license. The requirement to treat cycles the same as cars means that the guy on a decrepit Honda in front of you IS entitled to the whole lane, and not just the small bit of it his motorcycle occupies, (except if two riders choose to do so they may share a lane), and other vehicles must yield to him when he has the "Right of Way" (assuming, of course, that they see him. A smart motorcyclist knows the laws of physics will always trump the laws of traffic, he stands to lose the most in any collision, and being "dead right" will be a very limited consolation to his heirs). Some motorcyclists object to mandatory helmet laws, others don't, and states vary; anecdotal evidence abounds of a motorcyclist carrying a helmet while in one jurisdiction, only to put it on before entering another. Some states also have special laws for motorcycles to improve the flow of traffic: Massachusetts, for example, allow motorcycles to maneuver through traffic jams by making use of the space between cars, as long as they can do so safely.

Mandatory seat belt laws can be similarly seen as controversial: Some people consider seat belts a public safety issue, some people consider them a matter of personal freedom, and still others believe stupid people should die. That hasn't stopped most states from requiring their use (nearly all mandate it for the driver, most states also mandate it for passengers), in part because the federal government offers significant financial incentives for them to do so. Most people, outside of fanatical libertarians, view wearing of seat belts as simple common sense. The controversy comes with whether failing to "buckle up" is considered a "primary" offence (meaning you can get stopped for it) or a "secondary" offence (meaning you can only be cited for it after you've been stopped for something else, like speeding or a busted taillight) depends upon the state, though most states do mandate some form of safety restraint for children.

Despite what you may have seen on television, Americans generally tend to obey their traffic laws, and US traffic accident rates tend to be among the lowest in the world, particularly on the basis of accidents per miles (or km) driven. Speeding is probably the most common violation in the US (and probably anywhere) with "shaving" traffic lights a close second. Conventional wisdom, and common sense, suggests going with the flow of traffic, and if everyone else on the road is flying along at 5-10 MPH over the limit (pretty common on non-urban highways in most states, and almost de rigeur on the Interstate Highway System) then obviously you should do so as well... an argument which may or may not cut much ice with a police officer. Or a judge.

But sometimes the police do understand. In Virginia, on highways where the speed limit is 55, every single speeding case the state troopers bring in court never give a speed higher than 74 miles per hour. The reason for this is that driving 20 miles over the speed limit there is automatically "Reckless driving," a very serious crime, so the troopers always write the driver up for going 19 miles above the speed limit.

Still, this doesn't stop law enforcement from trying various ways of slowing down the pace. Speed cameras are becoming increasingly common, though they are still not nearly as common as in Europe: a section of road is set to allow cars to have their speeds checked, and if one is too fast, a photograph is taken of it (and its number plate), allowing someone to send the car's owner a fine. This is, of course, controversial (especially to the recipients of the tickets) in large part because historically it is the vehicle driver (who may not necessarily be the owner) who is responsible for operating the vehicle safely. Those in favour call it a public safety measure; those against call it a cheap way of raising cash^[3]. A similar phenomenon are the "red light cameras" used for stoplights in many areas too.

Likewise, recent tax incentives for hybrid vehicles notwithstanding, the US Government does not tend to use tax policy to manipulate vehicle design or driver choice, by say, encouraging diesel fuel as in Europe or alcohol like Brazil, or penalizing engine displacement as in Italy. As a result, fuel costs primarily stem from market forces and Americans choose to drive vehicles scaled to fit American roads and driving conditions and the few urban microcars that can actually meet the US's fairly stringent crash safety and emissions standards have achieved very little market share. Finally, given the relatively large amount of driving they do, Americans tend to want their vehicles to be reliable: It was reliability that allowed Japanese (and later Korean) brands to capture such a large percentage of U.S. auto sales just as it was the perceived lack of reliability that, more than anything else, caused virtually all French, British and Italian makes to succumb in the US market.

Finally, if you're visiting America and decide to drive someplace touristy, please measure the distance first (and don't forget conversion: 1 mile = 1.6km). If you are used to being able to drive across your own country as a day-trip it can be a bit startling to find out that crossing the US by car can take four days depending on the direction you are going and how hard you push yourself. Attempting to drive from New England to the Rockies "for the weekend" would be literally driving "for the weekend": the trip from Boston to Denver (at posted speed limits) takes approximately 32 hours by the most direct route...and that's if you drive non-stop.

1. ↑ Also important is the concept of Point of No Return: when you are close enough to the intersection that you understand you should stop, but have enough speed that you can't, at which point it is permissible to run a red light if, and only if, you are not otherwise breaking the speed limit
2. ↑ Example: a driver with a provisional license may be prohibited from driving at night, or prohibited from carrying non-family passengers under age 18, and in most instances, being pulled over and having any alcohol in your blood is an immediate loss of license
3. ↑ There's also an oft-quoted legal precedent against speed cameras, namely, the right of the accused to confront their accuser. While most recipients of speed camera tickets don't invoke this, those that do tend to find their cases dismissed, as arguing the point is more costly and time-consuming than the ticket would be worth