Visiting from the UK

[Kentrebel]

Hi all

Having recently taken early retirement I am about to take delivery of a 270 SV with S pack over here in England.
The second part of the wish list is to spend a couple of months at some point touring the USA and hope that one of you may be able to help with a couple of questions:-

1. Can I get insurance that will cover me as a non resident to drive for that length of time?
2. How do I stand driving a UK registered car on your side of the pond?
3. UK police "allow" leeway up to 15 MPH when enforcing the motorway speed limit of 70, is our perception of strict 55 limits all over the place correct?

Many thanx in advance

Mike, aka Kenty

[Sean]

Hi Mike,

1. Can't say, because as a resident, I haven't ever needed non-resident insurance here. But many UK resident 7 drivers did just this during the 2005 How The West Was Driven tour of 7s, so I strongly believe the answer is yes, you can.
2. Similar answer to number 1 above; not done it myself, but know it has been done by others.
3. No. Speed limits vary from place to place, as does enforcement. But typically, anything outside of calibration error, which is generally regarded as only 5-10 mph, is possible to result in a ticket if it is observed by any law enforcement person. No real catch-all answer to this one, unfortunately.

Welcome to the club!

[Doug Liedblad]

Speed limits on the major highways range from 55 to 75 mph. At least in the states I've driven. Some states give more leeway than others.

Are you going to be in California?

[slomove]

Speed limits on the major highways range from 55 to 75 mph. .........

Now 80 on some Montana Interstates.

Last Summer on a remote Montana highway we were going the speed limit, well maybe including some generous error margin and we were passed by a pickup truck with a hay baler in tow that was probably doing 90+ mph. How embarrassing.

[escondidoron]

In my experience observation of posted speed limits by motorists and enforcement of same are pretty much universal across both Europe and North America. That is, I have found during my travels that areas of any country where enforcement is seen as an important source of revenue or as an issue of significant social responsibility results in the general flow of traffic following posted speed limits. For instance, in Germany traffic tends to follow posted speed limits, with a grace zone of 10-15kph, on posted areas of the Autobahn. But in school zones, there is no grace range. The posted limit is the limit. Conversely Switzerland is adamant about observance of posted limits. 1kph over will get you a ticket if caught on camera. As noted above, each state has different speed limits and enforcement practices. And the use of speed cameras has fallen off dramatically in many states in recent years. That is very good news. But police do use radar. So a radar detector isn't a bad investment for most cars. Probably not so much for a Seven. One thing that is important to remember here is that ALL states are tough on drinking and driving. Don't do it is my recommendation.

That said, this country is huge, by both British and European standards. So there is a lot of open space and room to travel at comfortable speeds. I offer the following as examples:

I certainly would not condone speeding in any circumstance. But in some ways it seems to be analogous to the old adage about a tree falling in the woods...
I.e. if you are going fast and there isn't an officer around to observe, is it really speeding?

[Kentrebel]

Thanx to you all for the replies.

The vague plan, we'll very vague at this time, would be for a 8 week tour in an anti clockwise direction of the US starting in New England, covering Florida, Texas, California and then across the top back to start point.

Do I read it right then, that out of state cars are ok re California emissions regs?

Mike

[rzempel]

The vague plan, we'll very vague at this time, would be for a 8 week tour in an anti clockwise direction of the US starting in New England, covering Florida, Texas, California and then across the top back to start point.

You're describing a clockwise tour. Would be interesting to put a tour together where local 7ers would join for a period, from a day to perhaps several, and show off their favorite roads and attractions.

You might want to post on USA7s for more input.


Randall

[Kentrebel]

Sorry Randall, I forgot that clocks go around a different way over there; a bit like driving on the wrong side ;)

Mike

[Sean]

Driving on the wrong side will result in a citation for sure. I recommend not speeding at all if you decide to drive on the wrong side of the road.