They do.
George
We rented a powercat to cruise the islands and stopped in VG, rented a car for the day to mess around. Fun to get off the boat.
Side note: was hanging with Oscar de la Hoya on the docks while our wives were shopping for provisions. He was on kid duty. It was classic. Really nice guy.
Wife and I have been driving during travels in various countries in Europe since the 1990s. I don’t have definitive knowledge on the requirement of IDP, but have never been asked for, nor presented, one when we rented a car (or a van) since. We’ve never been pulled over (or stopped) for anything and so we never knew if we need to present an IDP.
HOWEVER, we always go to our nearby AAA Club to obtain IDPs a few days before our travel, only because we simply want to avoid any hassle or inconvenience should we be asked to present a valid one. For only $20 and 15 minutes spent at the AAA Club, the IDP is worth it to us just for the added peace of mind alone. Plus, the IDP is valid for 365 days from issue date and we travel to Europe an average of 3X per year.
It’s also a translated form of identification for drivers and with terror situations these days, translated IDs are a good thing to be carrying around (we’ve stayed at hotels that have advisory notes on reception desks to carry IDs just when walking around).
I’ve done the same when I’ve stopped tourist here in Cali and they present me with an IDP. I just hand it back to them and ask for their license from whatever country they are from. An IDP issued in the states (or anywhere else) is worthless as they are not a government document allowing one to drive anything anywhere.
Perhaps it’s a throwback to the old days that has just never changed, but I’ve never understood why anyone would need one. You either have a valid license issued in the state/country you are from, for the appropriate class of vehicle you are driving, or you don’t.
Andy, what do you do when they hand you a document that’s in Urdu?
That’s the point.
Well, since the IDP tells me nothing I look at their Driver’s License, use Google translate, and use my best judgement. Translated…let them go.
Seriously, most driver’s license’ I’ve encountered had at least some English on them or were very easy to identify as a license.
You can type in Urdu? Cool.
The IDP is internationally recognised and the USA is a party. So your laws recognise it if not your law enforcement. Indeed it was a legal requirement for non US licence holders to carry one for a shore period in Florida a few years ago.
But in any event the thread isn’t about non USA licence holders travelling to the USA.
I can’t even read English half the time. LOL. There’s this cool thing, you just take a pic of it and it recognizes what it is and does the work for you (well, most of the time). Technology is the best.
Translator app is likely not as useful and not available for an Italian traffic cop with a radar gun in a rural part of Sicily where 1 out of 25,000 passing vehicles is manned by a driver who would have a foreign driver’s license.
So they don’t have smart phones in other countries?
What if they do or they don’t?
Look, there’s no question whether an IDP is what permits you to drive. It doesn’t. You must also have a valid driver’s license. But that fact (as well as the question of whether or not rural Sicilian cops have access to translator apps) is completely irrelevant to whether there’s a reason to have one or not. It’s not that tough to understand why someone would need one: 1) in certain countries like Japan, you cannot rent a car without it, ever. 2) In some countries, as noted above, it is officially required, even if it’s in practice not requested very often. It’s quite valid to prefer not to take the risk.
The last one I got from AAA was free if they could quote me on auto insurance. Definitely easy to get and not worth the risk.
George
AAA took 15 minutes including the picture. Slam dunk.
Some places in the Caribbean automatically charge for them - $25-30 as they are required. We travel to Grand Cayman a lot and they are always surprised when I ask to have it removed from my bill as I already have one.
George
Relevant topic since we are tentatively going to New Zealand. According to the 100% Pure New Zealand, one is not required. See: International driving licences and permits | 100% Pure New Zealand
I thought they were just for teenagers who needed a fake id.
Just ordered one here in the UAE, just upload the required documents online and a courier brought it to my office two days later. $45.
Brought in the filled-out application and two photos to an AAA in Walnut Creek. Took five minutes and a bunch of stamping. Avis rep in Lisbon said it was not necessary in Portugal, but required in Spain.
Yes. I experienced this first hand early one morning outside Pamplona. Cops were conducting a breathalyzer stop to nail all the drunk people driving during San Fermin. I was stone cold sober, but the cops tried to shake me down thinking I did not have the permit. Once I presented it, I was free to go.