4 ms·

I wonder how many people have paid for International Drivers Permits from scam websites. In the US these are only issued by AAA, and until recently they were on

I wonder how many people have paid for International Drivers Permits from scam websites. In the US these are only issued by AAA, and until recently they were only available by mail or in person, creating an opening for grifters to sell print-at-home PDFs. (The concept seems outdated, and I've successfully rented cars abroad without an IDP at all. Also, isn't it weird that authority to issue these is delegated to AAA, and them only?)

lmm 1y ago
IDPs are still very much useful and needed - short of the world agreeing on a single standard for what a driving license should look like, they're a lot more practical than expecting everyone to understand 192 different formats (and a few crazy countries like the USA even issue dozens of different license formats within the country). Delegating it to some random driving-related third party is slightly weird but not that weird (in my country they're done by the Post Office, which is arguably weirder, but I guess they also handle passport applications so it makes a certain amount of sense from that perspective).
- YZF 1y ago
  There are many countries where just having a standard-ish license with English is perfectly fine. I think last time we had a thread on this topic someone mentioned a few countries where that wasn't true but most of Europe, the US, Canada, Australia, (edit: UK), and a bunch of other countries will just take your local plastic license as long as it has English on it.
  - portaouflop 1y ago
    There are many countries outside of the Anglosphere though…
  - ricudis 1y ago
    I have never driven a car outside of my own country, and I always wondered how they even allow you to drive a car without getting re-trained in a country where the driving system is so different than where you obtained your license (I'm looking at you, Commonwealth countries). Isn't it difficult to adapt to left-side driving while having used to right-side? It surely needs a little bit of adapting as a pedestrian.
    - cjs_ac 1y ago
      > Isn't it difficult to adapt to left-side driving while having used to right-side? You get used to it after a few minutes. It takes a bit more concentration, especially when turning out of one-way streets, but it's otherwise fine. There are mutual recognition agreements between many pairs of countries. The UK, for example, will allow you to directly exchange a licence from an EU or EEA, a British Crown Dependency, or a 'designated country' (Andorra, Australia, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Japan, Moldova, Monaco, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Republic of North Macedonia, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and Zimbabwe) for a British licence with no need for a retest. Most of those countries drive on the 'wrong' side of the road.
    - spauldo 1y ago
      The hardest part of learning to drive on the left is not turning on your windshield wipers every time you turn a corner. Really though, the actual driving part is pretty easy to pick up. You get accustommed to it quickly. You're more likely to have problems crossing the street on foot (you'll look the wrong way for traffic) than driving.
      - wtmt 1y ago
        > The hardest part of learning to drive on the left is not turning on your windshield wipers every time you turn a corner. This is something to learn the very first time when getting into a (new/unfamiliar) car before getting the vehicle moving. Come to India and drive a few cars from different brands. [1] The rule is to drive on the left side of the road (so the driver is on the right side of the vehicle). But the sticks/levers to turn on the windshield wiper may be on the right side of the steering wheel or on the left side (and vice versa for the turn indicator sticks/levers), depending on the manufacturer. If you don’t check it in advance, you may end up wiping the windshield when you want to signal a turn or end up signaling a turn when you want to get water off the windshield. [1]: Actually, it’s not recommended for foreigners to attempt to drive in India. The traffic is chaotic and one needs a different way of thinking to drive.
      - 1y ago
  - cjs_ac 1y ago
    An IDP isn't a driving licence; it's an internationally-agreed and -recognised document that asserts that 'this other document I have is a driving licence.' I think the main value of an IDP is that it avoids this sort of situation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DQBc3eFUlU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DQBc3eFUlU
    - closewith 1y ago
      Although it wouldn't have helped in that situation, as the Polish don't need IDPs in Ireland.
      - lmm 1y ago
        The point is that if the Polish did need IDPs in Ireland then it would. Very few things help when you don't use them.
        closewith 1y ago
        I don't think it would, because this happened because of the old format paper Irish driver's licenses which had the driver's name in the top left hand corner, where prawo jazdy was written on the polish plastic cards. But anyway, IDPs will never be required in the EU.

lmm 1y ago

IDPs are still very much useful and needed - short of the world agreeing on a single standard for what a driving license should look like, they're a lot more practical than expecting everyone to understand 192 different formats (and a few crazy countries like the USA even issue dozens of different license formats within the country). Delegating it to some random driving-related third party is slightly weird but not that weird (in my country they're done by the Post Office, which is arguably weirder, but I guess they also handle passport applications so it makes a certain amount of sense from that perspective).

YZF 1y ago
There are many countries where just having a standard-ish license with English is perfectly fine. I think last time we had a thread on this topic someone mentioned a few countries where that wasn't true but most of Europe, the US, Canada, Australia, (edit: UK), and a bunch of other countries will just take your local plastic license as long as it has English on it.
- portaouflop 1y ago
  There are many countries outside of the Anglosphere though…
- ricudis 1y ago
  I have never driven a car outside of my own country, and I always wondered how they even allow you to drive a car without getting re-trained in a country where the driving system is so different than where you obtained your license (I'm looking at you, Commonwealth countries). Isn't it difficult to adapt to left-side driving while having used to right-side? It surely needs a little bit of adapting as a pedestrian.
  - cjs_ac 1y ago
    > Isn't it difficult to adapt to left-side driving while having used to right-side? You get used to it after a few minutes. It takes a bit more concentration, especially when turning out of one-way streets, but it's otherwise fine. There are mutual recognition agreements between many pairs of countries. The UK, for example, will allow you to directly exchange a licence from an EU or EEA, a British Crown Dependency, or a 'designated country' (Andorra, Australia, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Japan, Moldova, Monaco, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Republic of North Macedonia, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and Zimbabwe) for a British licence with no need for a retest. Most of those countries drive on the 'wrong' side of the road.
  - spauldo 1y ago
    The hardest part of learning to drive on the left is not turning on your windshield wipers every time you turn a corner. Really though, the actual driving part is pretty easy to pick up. You get accustommed to it quickly. You're more likely to have problems crossing the street on foot (you'll look the wrong way for traffic) than driving.
    - wtmt 1y ago
      > The hardest part of learning to drive on the left is not turning on your windshield wipers every time you turn a corner. This is something to learn the very first time when getting into a (new/unfamiliar) car before getting the vehicle moving. Come to India and drive a few cars from different brands. [1] The rule is to drive on the left side of the road (so the driver is on the right side of the vehicle). But the sticks/levers to turn on the windshield wiper may be on the right side of the steering wheel or on the left side (and vice versa for the turn indicator sticks/levers), depending on the manufacturer. If you don’t check it in advance, you may end up wiping the windshield when you want to signal a turn or end up signaling a turn when you want to get water off the windshield. [1]: Actually, it’s not recommended for foreigners to attempt to drive in India. The traffic is chaotic and one needs a different way of thinking to drive.
    - 1y ago
- cjs_ac 1y ago
  An IDP isn't a driving licence; it's an internationally-agreed and -recognised document that asserts that 'this other document I have is a driving licence.' I think the main value of an IDP is that it avoids this sort of situation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DQBc3eFUlU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DQBc3eFUlU
  - closewith 1y ago
    Although it wouldn't have helped in that situation, as the Polish don't need IDPs in Ireland.
    - lmm 1y ago
      The point is that if the Polish did need IDPs in Ireland then it would. Very few things help when you don't use them.
      - closewith 1y ago
        I don't think it would, because this happened because of the old format paper Irish driver's licenses which had the driver's name in the top left hand corner, where prawo jazdy was written on the polish plastic cards. But anyway, IDPs will never be required in the EU.