Heads up for Canadian drivers in Florida

[coastgirl]

Coming late to the party, but I have enjoyed some of the coverage of this. (We aren't going til August, so I have the luxury of "wait and see".) I think it's funny and oddly charming that we can unite over our inalienable right to go to Florida in February! I heard Jason Kenney, Minister of Immigration, on "As it Happens" THursday evening talking about how ridiculous it was that Canadians needed extra authorization to drive in Fl. Words to the effect of "Canadians are probably the safest drivers on Florida's highways." Reporter asks "Are you saying Floridians aren't good drivers?" Kenney: "Have you ever driven in Florida??"

 

[RainbowsMist]

Just called Alamo and they flat out told me we DO need it! I almost fell off my chair. Panic is setting in now


Posted from DISboards.com App for Android

 

[Mike2023]

Just called Alamo and they flat out told me we DO need it! I almost fell off my chair. Panic is setting in now


Posted from DISboards.com App for Android

Did you call the local branch or there call centre?

I have yet to see any office press release from any rental car company and that disappointing.

Budget was quoted as saying its needed, but then a follow up call to the rental counter and they where clueless of the law and not enforcing anything.

If your trip is soon, get one, if its more then a month or so out I would wait.

I have not seen any first hand reports of people being denied a car yet, and Im sure some disers from canada have rented a car in the last week or so.

 

[RainbowsMist]

Did you call the local branch or there call centre?

I have yet to see any office press release from any rental car company and that disappointing.

Budget was quoted as saying its needed, but then a follow up call t0 the rental counter and they where clueless of the law and not enforcing anything.

If your trip is soon, get one, if its more then a month or so out I would wait.

I have not seen any first hand reports of people being denied a car yet, and Im sure some disers from canada have rented a car in the last week or so.

I called the call centre and they forwarded me to the rental counter. I've tried calling CAA and cannot get through.

 

[On the Lake]

Just called National (Sanford location) and they told me I justed need a Cdn driver's license as long as its in English for my March reservation. I called National first and they refered me to the actual location.

 

[knitdiva]

Here is what I posted on the transportation board; I just couldn't help it after watching the story unfold for the last week or so.



I sure hope they clear it all up in the near future as our group of 10 people just decided to forget renting cars (mind you it's only 4 cars in the sea of rental cars in the Orlando area) for our upcoming March trip and it has quite a few snowbirds I know rethinking their winter destination for next year. Maybe a slight decrease in the number of rented cars and snowbirds is the plan??
I have been going to Florida a few times a year for the last 35 years. Our French drivers's licence may be in French but the name, address, DOB are easy to find. They are in the same spots as any other licence from the US and the rest of Canada.
On the Quebec licence we have: ''adresse'' instead of ''address'', ''date de naissance'' instead of ''DOB'', ''sexe'' instead of ''sex'', it state my height in metric, ''date d'expiration'' instead of ''expiration date''.
Sorry but it doesn't take any French language knowledge to figure it out.
Now if the licence used a different alphabet, I could see the difficulty.
Quebec doesn't issue any licence in English, I checked and I asked.

So for our next trip we will be using Disney transportation only.

I fail to see the goal of this new law aside from making sure one is not driving without a licence. Even at that, I'm sure any police officer running my licence number can see if it's valid or not.

Anyhow, there's nothing I can do about it but obey if it becomes mandatory.

 

[sympatico]

This is from the Alamo website:
Alamo Driver's License Policy

What is the drivers license policy when renting a vehicle with Alamo?

In order to rent an Alamo vehicle:

A valid driver's license from the customer's country of residence is required and must be presented at time of rental.
The driver's license must be valid for the entire rental period.
Expired Driver's Licenses are not accepted. The only exception to this practice is a renter that is Active Military, with an Active Military ID and a Driver's License issued from a state with a Military Extension Policy.
Temporary licenses are not accepted.
International renters must present a valid license from their country of residence. If the driver's license is in a language other than English, an International Driver's Permit is required in conjunction with the country of residence driver's license.
If the driver's license is in a language other than English, but the characters are in English (i.e. alphabet is an extended Latin-based alphabet like German, Spanish, etc.), an International Driver's Permit is recommended but not required.
If the driver's license is in a language other than English and the characters are not in the English language (i.e. Russian, Chinese, etc.) an International Driver's Permit is required.

Note: Customers are not allowed to rent a vehicle with only an International Driver's Permit. An International Driver's Permit is a translation of the individual's home country driver's license and is not an indication of the status, restrictions or type of license the individual holds.
https://alamo.custhelp.com/app/answ...sion/L3RpbWUvMTM2MTIxMTIzNS9zaWQvalpRcE1hamw=


My insurance broker just advised me to get an IDP. My insurance may cover me but if an accident is caused by say a resident of Florida then their insurance may use the loophole to deny payment to me. Actually she said she's going to Florida in March and she's getting one so what does that tell ya.

 

[Mike2023]

Here is what I posted on the transportation board; I just couldn't help it after watching the story unfold for the last week or so.



I sure hope they clear it all up in the near future as our group of 10 people just decided to forget renting cars (mind you it's only 4 cars in the sea of rental cars in the Orlando area) for our upcoming March trip and it has quite a few snowbirds I know rethinking their winter destination for next year. Maybe a slight decrease in the number of rented cars and snowbirds is the plan??
I have been going to Florida a few times a year for the last 35 years. Our French drivers's licence may be in French but the name, address, DOB are easy to find. They are in the same spots as any other licence from the US and the rest of Canada.
On the Quebec licence we have: ''adresse'' instead of ''address'', ''date de naissance'' instead of ''DOB'', ''sexe'' instead of ''sex'', it state my height in metric, ''date d'expiration'' instead of ''expiration date''.
Sorry but it doesn't take any French language knowledge to figure it out.
Now if the licence used a different alphabet, I could see the difficulty.
Quebec doesn't issue any licence in English, I checked and I asked.

So for our next trip we will be using Disney transportation only.

I fail to see the goal of this new law aside from making sure one is not driving without a licence. Even at that, I'm sure any police officer running my licence number can see if it's valid or not.

Anyhow, there's nothing I can do about it but obey if it becomes mandatory.

I think I kinda disagree with you on this one. I see your point and agree that its not hard to figure out whats what on a quebec DL. But there has to be a line set and for the sake of being an easy line to distinguish I think it should be non english require a IDP.

Or maybe a North American exception? I don't know what the right answer is, I just know its not what was passed.

I'm also not 100% sure that State Troopers have access to our Licence database to ensure validity.

 

[dvcdisney]

We were going to rent our car for our week before the cruise which would be at total of 3 rentals, but I think we'll just take a car service from the airport.

We wanted to shop a bit before the cruise but we'll just hang out at the resort.

I understand that it doesn't amount to a lot of money that we won't be spending into the economy but if everyone did what we plan to, I can see it making an impact on their Spring Break profits.

I think they are capable of holding an emergency meeting and setting up the amendment to remove this law from the "books"...at least temporarily until the July meeting.

I'm not complaining about the $35 fee to get the IDP. It's the unnecessary inconvenience.

 

[CanuckTraveller]

FWIW I emailed our insurance broker about driving our own car in Florida and this is her reply:


With respect to coverage you have a valid auto policy because you have valid Ontario drivers licenses. Your auto coverage is valid in Florida without the International lic.
With that said, it appears that Florida is not enforcing this law for Canadian drivers, however we advise clients to adhere to local laws.

Hope this helps.

 

[Sunseeker2012]

We picked our IDP yesterday and the lady serving us said that normally they would sell around maybe 20 copies per month and this month alone they sold roughly 5000...

 

[coastgirl]

Thanks CanuckTraveller for sharing that info.

 

[alc571]

I have to say I'm glad we aren't going until April. I hope it's all sorted out by then!

 

[mkmommy]

FWIW I emailed our insurance broker about driving our own car in Florida and this is her reply:


With respect to coverage you have a valid auto policy because you have valid Ontario drivers licenses. Your auto coverage is valid in Florida without the International lic.
With that said, it appears that Florida is not enforcing this law for Canadian drivers, however we advise clients to adhere to local laws.

Hope this helps.

Maybe it is me, but that whole last sentence about we advise clients to adhere to local laws causes me concern .

I got an IDP just so I have no issues, and if our return flight was not out of Tampa I would not be renting a car.

 

[CanuckTraveller]

Maybe it is me, but that whole last sentence about we advise clients to adhere to local laws causes me concern .

I got an IDP just so I have no issues, and if our return flight was not out of Tampa I would not be renting a car.

The last sentence to me is a CYA statement IMNSHO . I'm not going to worry about the IDP, we are driving our own car and as long as we have insurance coverage, I'm good with that. Plus I have it in writing from our insurance broker.
This all being said, I'll be driving carefully in Florida and not spending any more time there than needed.

 

[Vivig]

We each picked up our IDL today. As the saying goes "Better Safe than Sorry!"
Quite painless with exception of the payment of it!

 

[RainbowsMist]

We each picked up our IDL today. As the saying goes "Better Safe than Sorry!"
Quite painless with exception of the payment of it!

Us too!! $37 for nothing .....but peace of mind


Posted from DISboards.com App for Android

 

[Toulouse]

OK, so what the heck is the word on this. We leave March 28th and have two different car rentals. That's what I'm worried about... running into "that guy" at the car rental place who is choosing to enforce this.

Alamo and National. I'm worried that the call centre will give me one answer and then I'll get another on the day of.

Any Canadians actually RENT a car since February 15th when this all blew up??

 

[Lisa Anne Colling]

I spoke to Alamo today and they are saying YOU must have an IDL to rent a vehicle from them.

 

[greenclan67]

Really? Cause when I called they didnt tell me that.