Canadians technically now need an international driving permit to get behind the whee

[Kevin K]

Canadians technically now need an international driving permit to get behind the wheel in Florida.
Legislators in the Sunshine State passed a law that requires non-U.S. motorists, including those renting cars, to have an international permit in addition to their regular driver's licence as of Jan. 1, said Ian Jack, spokesman for the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA).

But lawmakers there said they are scrambling to modify the rules to allow driver's with English-licences to drive there without the international permit. Unfortunately that will likely take until the summer to close the loophole, as the next legislative session isn't until March. So, until then the permit will technically, by law, be required for the many Canadian spring breakers and snowbirds who head south over the winter months.
"At CAA, we're reluctantly recommending to be better safe than sorry," Jack said.

Florida officials said officers won't be actively enforcing the law for Canadian-licenced motorists, but the decision will be at the discretion of police and the courts.

Employees from Enterprise and Hertz car rentals in Florida, however, said Thursday they hadn't heard of the new requirement and Canadians can rent vehicles with just their regular driver's licence.

An international driving permit is printed in 10 languages, is valid for one-year, and allows the holder to operate a vehicle without further tests or applications in more than 150 countries. Drivers can get the permit at any CAA office.

More Canadians travel to Florida than any other country.

In 2011, about 3.3 million Canadians travelled to the Sunshine State, according to Visit Florida Research.

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by Kevin K

..........More Canadians travel to Florida than any other country............

Unlike Texas, Florida is a state, not a country.

[Bob Miller]

Sounds to me like a good reason to not go to Florida....

[FRED SMAILES]

Once was enough for me!
But,I've only been east of Sk in Canada once too and that was also enough.
Fred

[Glenn Baglo]

Latest on this from CBC radio is that Florida may have violated an international treaty by passing this law.

[Carol H]

Glenn's correct. The latest on the topic can be found at CBC.ca

in part it reads
"The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles issued a statement detailing that the new statute may be in violation of the Geneva Convention on Road Traffic and therefore the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) will defer enforcement of violations of the amended statutory section.

Non-resident drivers need only a valid licence with their name on it, issued from their home country.

It further stated that "...the FHP will not take enforcement action based solely on the lack of an International Driving Permit (IDP)."

"The CAA stated that the Florida law was passed so police would not be faced with licence documents in languages they could not understand."

LOL Apparently Florida was not aware that even licence issues in Quebec are in English.

[glamourpets]

A new additional license/driving permit is being considered if you are Canadian and you drive a vehicle in Florida. If you are planning a trip to Florida, this is a heads up. The rules are in flux.

Details can be found here:
Canadian driver's licences valid in Florida, after all - World - CBC News

[Donna D.]

Gosh.. and here I always thought anytime you wanted to drive outside your COUNTRY required an International drivers license. It's not about language... it's about the driving laws. Trust me, I can drive in different states in the US and the driving laws are different. KNOWLEDGE is POWER! I live 10 miles from a different state in the US and whatever I know about my domicle doesn't count when it comes to getting a ticket. PAY ATTENTION, there are no free lunches.... GAD

[Bob Miller]

An International Drivers License has nothing to do with knowing the driving laws in Upper Slobovia, it's just a compilation of your drivers license information in a number of other languages to prove that you have a drivers license in you home country. In the U.S. they are usually issued by Auto Club offices, not the DMV.

I had to have one many years ago (1969-70) to drive through the old USSR and other eastern bloc countries, but haven't needed one for any European, South American or Asian countries I have visited. But, as always, check with the AAA if there are any questions.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

Gosh.. and here I always thought anytime you wanted to drive outside your COUNTRY required an International drivers license. It's not about language... it's about the driving laws.

Actually I have rented cars in many different counties and not been asked for an International drivers license. Its actually only valid outside of North America which is why the Florida law is being questioned as to its legality. I have never been asked in the UK or a number of other Europe counties where I have rented cars but in South America other than Brazil you may be asked for one.

As has been suggested is only a supplement to your drivers licence stating in several languages the vehicles you are licensed to drive. If you have a valid drivers licence in your home country you dont need to take a test of any kind to get an International drivers license simple hand over $25 and your good to go for a year.

[Carol H]

Being discussed over on the thread titled Canadians Technically now need an International drivers permit

Apparently Florida has now realized they may have errored in their new law and will most likely repeal it.

[Eddie Longest]

All you need to do is leave your turn signal on all the time, raise your head rest so you can't tell if anyone is driving the car and drive 15 mph slower than the traffic flow. Everyone will think you are resident and they won't notice your non-Florida plates. This it what we were told in military safety briefings when being assigned to Fla.
Eddie
I know I will get in trouble for this post.

[Carol H]

Eddie thats classic!

[Bill MacDermod]

Originally Posted by Eddie Longest

All you need to do is leave your turn signal on all the time, raise your head rest so you can't tell if anyone is driving the car and drive 15 mph slower than the traffic flow. Everyone will think you are resident and they won't notice your non-Florida plates. This it what we were told in military safety briefings when being assigned to Fla.
Eddie
I know I will get in trouble for this post.

Leave it to the military to screw things up, we don't use turn signals in Fl

[Joe MacDonald]

Actually, the Quebec drivers licence is only in French

They are not an officially bilingual province like the rest of Canada

[cpaharley2008]

Merged the two threads...

[Carol H]

Joe, I stand corrected but you have to admit that even they most francaphone challenged would not have a hard time reading it and knowing what it says. If a police officer cant figure it out then I would really be questioning their ability to investigate or solve the most basic crime.

[Rocky Rhodes]

Originally Posted by Joe MacDonald

Actually, the Quebec drivers license is only in French

They are not an officially bilingual province like the rest of Canada

There is only 1 Canadian Province that is officially Bilingual. New Brunswick.

[Joe MacDonald]

Now I stand corrected. Living in Northern Ontario where I hear both Languages every day,It's easy to make assumptions, especially when you know all provincial buildings and agencies offer bilingual services. However I did find this interesting tidbit on wiki: Only Quebec has declared itself officially unilingual (French only). I know there is a lot of debate in quebec over language, and I don't want to stray into that here, so .............
I'm done

Joe

[Andrew Gibbens]

The Quebec license nicely illustrates that the international community has long ago made reading other countries' licenses easy by requiring those little numbers in front of each item:
1 is always the holder's family name
2 is always the holder's first names
3 is date of birth
8 is address
etc

Maybe Florida's objection was to the international system not being modelled on the American system?