Florida delays law on foreign drivers permit
(CNS): Visitors to Florida from Cayman or elsewhere in the world planning on driving in the state have been given a reprieve regarding a new requirement that foreign drivers have an International Driving Permit (IDP) as well as their own country’s valid driver’s licence. The Florida Highway Patrol will not be enforcing a state law that overseas drivers carry an extra permit, as it may violate the Geneva Convention on Road Traffic, an international treaty to which the United States is a signatory, the department said in a press release Thursday. Last year the state legislature amended a statute requiring visitors without a US driver’s license to have an International Permit to drive lawfully in Florida from 1 January.
The department had told a UK newspaper that if a foreign driver is pulled over by Highway Patrol officers, or is involved in an accident, without the international permit they could find themselves jailed or given a mandatory court date. However, officials from the department said the requirement had been placed on hold.
“It has come to the Department’s attention that this requirement may violate the Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (1949), an international treaty to which the United States is a signatory. Treaties to which the United States is a party pre-empt state laws in conflict with them,” the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said in a statement Thursday, adding that it would defer enforcement until a final determination could be made on the situation.
“Non-resident visitors to Florida who wish to drive while here will be required to have in their immediate possession a valid driver license issued in his or her name from another state or territory of the US or from their country of residence. However, the FHP will not take enforcement action based solely on the lack of an International Driving Permit," the officials added.
The state is expected to waive the international permit requirement for any license issued in English as the main reason for the international permit requirement is because that document translates licence details into 10 different languages and helps law officers interpret foreign licences.
For more details visit the Florida Highway Patrol website
Category: Local News
"Relationship"? For crying out loud, there are ranches in the U.S. bigger than Cayman. There is no "relationship" between the U.S. and Cayman, there never has been and never will be. It's a joke to suggest otherwise.
When tourists come to Cayman from the US, they are required to get a temporary Cayman license or have an IDP when they rent a car or drive any car while on the island. What would be the difference if the US were to require the same for visitors from Cayman?
Cayman needs toterminate its relationship with the US. Those violent thugs in their law enforcement belong in a bloody asylum. I refuse to ever visit there again. EVER! I see their coast guard ship regularly. I wonder if they are planning any renditions? Amerika is gone, gone forever. Perhaps I'll get to go there on a cruise….on a coast guard ship….LOL. Am I the only one who sees this, and if so, I'll jump off the damned cliff at Pedro.
Laws are laws, no matter where you go, problem is some numb sculls do not obey them. When I rent a car in fla or any other stae I'm not charged for a license like they have to do when they travel here to Cayman. So cool your heels.
Wow! how stupid can some people be, terminate relationship with the US!! Lol!!! you must have been deported from the US. What then? Strenghten relationship with Jamaica, England et al so we can all eat, LIVE? Some people just need to learn to respect other peoples' country and their laws no matter how stupid they may seem to them. Not because the folks who choose to visit and/or reside in the Cayman Islands have no respect for Cayman or Caymanians that they can treat others the same way. Get real and remember no one is extending an invitation for anybody to come to the US so if you don't like their laws don't grace their shores with your imminent presence.
what relationship?
Surely it's "America"?
Thanks for bringing this to our attention CNS.
Florida, home to constantly insane politicians.
Seems like the Cayman legislature is not the only one rushing through laws that need to be amended afterwards,