Florida International Drivers License

[Lindsay Richards]

The poster indicated that Florida was dependant on tourism and snowbirds. The purpose of my information was to point out that before this revolution, we were doing quite well. Many would say much better. We did not have the moral decay that was apparent by several examples I gave. I don’t accuse tourist and snowbirds of coming in and stealing our stuff and meaning we had to start locking our doors. When Florida was small, we didn’t need to. In my opinion. the great influx purported to be such a great advantage for us by the poster is what caused this decline and the examples I mentioned. As far as voting these politicians in, as I stated, native Floridians are now rare and unfortunately not much of a factor in elections anymore. As far as the teen pregnancies, you mentioned being covered up, we knew everybody and it didn’t happen. There are still many places in America where people still don’t have to lock their doors and all the rest. Unfortunately Florida is not one of them anymore. Sad, but true.

[FlyingDiver]

Keep in mind that the time frame you're talking about (late 50s and on) was also the start of the large Cuban migration to Southern Florida. Which probably had a larger impact on the items you're referencing than the seasonal migration from the Northern US and Canada. At least in the greater Miami area.

[anotherone]

There are still many places in America where people still don’t have to lock their doors and all the rest. Unfortunately Florida is not one of them anymore. Sad, but true.[/QUOTE]

This statement is very wrong! Get away from any city and your back to reality. Fl is a huge state and very rural ; the doors do not need to be locked. Lived in fl my whole life and some places are crowded and most are not. Also I grew up in miami out in the farm country and never locked my door.

[SarahW]

Folks...let's try to keep the thread on topic, please.

[Possum]

I remember a few years ago when a whole whack of BC types were calling the Bill Goode Show on CKNW talk radio complaining about the US border guards performing illegal acts by racially profiling people crossing the border. When I called even the host didn't understand my contention that the American Border Crossing people were doing nothing to break the law in their country. Racial profiling is only against the law north of that border.

The USA and any of its member states can make laws we all have to live up to just as our federal and provincial authorities can make laws for them to have to live up to here. Years ago I had to go bail out a buddy at the border who was attempting to enter Canada at the border pulling double. He was surprised because he had traversed most of the North American continent by the time he had hit the BC border with no problems. He was some upset, but at himself for not checking the regs before starting out.

[bruceisla]

I think the requirement for an International License is ok .... just tell everyone far enough in advance so you can actually obtain one .... just sayin'.

[slickest1]

I can understand the intent. Why should Florida Police have to try and translate drivers licence information that is not english. For the number of people visiting, I can see it being an issue.

Many States and Provinces were alot more innocent in the 50's. Moral decay seems to be part of any area that has a population growth. Just a sign of the times!

[Pianotuna]

Hi,

If I spend $25 to get documentation, that will be $25 I don't have available to spend in Florida. If that is true for say 100,000 persons, then the direct loss to Florida is 2.5 million. Since the usual "spin off" value is at least 6 to 1, that translates into 15 million not circulating in Florida.

It was not the brightest bulb in the chandelier for the Government to do this in an area where tourist dollars are wanted.

[CLIFFTALL]

There have been a number of off topic posts removed after a moderator asked to please stay on topic. This thread will have to be closed if this continues.
Thanks
Cliff

[HD4Mark]

Are not all Canadian licenses not already in English, perhaps with the exception of Quebec? If language is the issue seems to me that if your license is already in English, you should be exempt.

It is funny that we are considering changing our licenses from NY to Fl because there appear to be less stupid rules here. Of course there aren't many places that have more stupid rules than NY.

To my native Fl friends, thanks for having us. We love it here and try not to be a PIA. You won't see us making traffic problems at 5am unless on the way to the ER 10am isn't looking good either

[Possum]

I checked both sides of my latest BC license (issued about 11 years ago) and all the writing is in English. JK about the 11.

[Libero]

This conversation is likley moot now since Florida has recognized the new legislation was flawed and will take another look at it to ensure it meets the intent for which the change was introduced and will also ensure it is in compliance with the Geneva Convention for which the USA is a signatory. I understand the intent is to enable LEO's to understand what they are looking at when the stop a driver and of course with documentation being in English is the only way to meet this requirement, so it is reasonable for the statute to require a IDL for driving permits not in English or whatever the language of the jurisdiction is. This rule makes sense for any state, province or country.

My Ontario license has the same info that my Florida License has and it is the same as the info on my long expired Virginia Lic. The only difference Re the Ontario license has the info in English and in French (don't really know why it is in French since Ontario is not a bilingual Province but I see nothing wrong with acommodating others as a friendly gesture that is not always recriprocated in one Canadian Province but I say don't treat others as they treat you but rather how you would like to be treated.)

It is noteworthy that the Ontario License also indicates the Country in which the Province is part of. The Florida and Virginia licenses I have do not say what country the state is in. Obviously in most parts of the world I would assume one would know the states noted are is in the USA, but it is noteworthy by its absense nontheless. If one said they were from Georgia for example, one assume they were from the US state of Georgia but that may not be the case when you consider this from a global perspective.

I have used my Ontario, Canada, License in many parts of the world and only a very few places have required an IDL. Countries I have used my ON lic for rental cars are: USA, UK, Ireland, Germany, Italy, France, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Botswana, showed the IDL in UAE but the car rental agency waved it aside as did the rental agency in Oman and Qatar. Thought these ME countries would want to see the Arabic script which they may have anyway, but just took the info direct from my ON lic as I recall.

In summary it is indeed reasonable to expect a driver to have a license in the language of the visiting jurisdiction and if that is not possible, then the License should be accompanied with an IDL.

Canada and USA have a special relationship wherein there is even an agreement to accept "enhanced" drivers licenses (these contain biometric data) as documentation meeting immigration requirements that take the place of a passport for land crossings. NEXUS cards also can be used in lieu of a passport. (Don't know how many US States are on board with the Enhanced Licenses) This is a simple demonstration of the special relationship that exists between friends as it should be. Heck I am even a very good friend of my wife who is a US citizen and we get along just fine and we don't get into a scrap about simple things that can be changed to accommodate both parties. This is likely the direction Florida will take in its revised statute as many of my dear Floridian friends also suggest will happen.

[dieharder]

The conversation is not quite moot just yet.

While they have acknowledged that they will not be enforcing this law, technically, by law, a Canadian is an unlicensed driver in Florida without the IDP until the law is changed. if one has a look at their insurance policy, it will likely say somewhere that they have to maintain a valid license in order to be insured.

Get into an accident that is your fault, if your insurance company has a choice between paying tens of thousands for your car, tens of thousands for the other car(s), and even more (maybe MUCH more) if there are injuries involved or washing their hands of you saying that, by law, you are an unlicensed driver and, therefore, uninsured, what do you think they will choose?

Confirm with your insurance provider that you are still licensed in Florida until they actually change the law. If you get a positive response, get it in writing, just in case. Otherwise, take the small amount of $ that it is, get the IDP and cover your behind.

[Libero]

Diehard,

Hmmm there is common sense and paranoia. Which category does your assessment fit best?

The statute says nothing about Canada to start with, but that point is not relevant.

There are likely millions of visitors in Florida that now that would be in contravention of the law and no way to change this status without having to go back to thier own country to get an IDL.

I suspect thousands of those drivers have locally rented cars. It is a requirement for all cars registered owners (In this case the rental company) to have third party insurance. The same would apply for all commercial truckers hauling goods to from Florida. So what you are saying all these rental companies and commercial truck owners are violating the law and they could be liable for any third party damages and state prosecution for not having insurance on the vehicle because they allowed an "unlicensed" driver at the wheel, WOW I would never have thought these hapless car rental or trucking companies companies to be that stupid. Hmmmm

I forwarded your comments to my lawyer friend who handles a lot of insurance issues. His response, after he stopped chukling, was "please give me a case like this so I could sue an insurance company if they ever tried to pull something so dumb."

My lawyer friend also said, laws can be challenged in any case in court, and such a farfetched hypothisis as in your post is just that. He further said there is no violation record unless there is a charge and subsequent conviction so if the State has announced publically, that they will not apply the law, it is "defacto" recinded the statute and not applicable unless that decision has been publically promulgated to the contrary.

But these are just a lawyers words. What do I know other than to use my common sense judgement. (Not planning to be in Florida anytime soon, so the discussion is very moot for me.)