Driving in the US

Student Lounge International Students
1

Hi all,

I was wondering what the laws on car insurance are in the US. For example, say after a night out, one of my friends is too drunk to drive home. Is it legal for me to drive him/her home, using my UK driving licence? Obviously, I will not be insured to drive his/her car. What is the law on this? Also, what is the penalty for being caught driving uninsured?

P.S. I will be attending college in California.

2

In the UK, the insurance is on the driver, and coverage applies only to drivers ‘named’ on the car insurance policy. In the US the insurance is on the car, and any (licensed) driver who has the permission of the owner to drive the car is covered by the policy (any regular driver of the car has to be named on the policy, but occasional drivers do not).

So, whether your friend is too drunk, or you and your friend are on a long road trip and want to split the driving, or your friend lends you the car to do an errand you are covered. Also, CA does not recognize the “International Drivers Licence”- your UK license is just fine.

3

In some cases, the insurance is restricted to the car’s owner. That isn’t very common, but it does happen. If it is possible that you could be driving your friends around in this kind of situation, ask them to double-check with their insurance companies about their policies.

4

I would very strongly recommend against driving another person’s car unless you are absolutely 100% certain that you are appropriately insured for the operation of said vehicle. When in doubt, take an UBER/Lyft or a rental car (e.g. Zip Cars can be rented for $7 an hour and come with insurance.)

Here’s potential complications when driving another person’s car:

  • The owner of the car may not carry insurance at all, and it would be illegal for you to operate a car without insurance.
  • Under CA state law, another person's insurance only has to extend the state minimum liability coverage to other drivers of their car (currently $5,000 for property damage and $15,000 for bodily injury). As you can imagine, it's very very easy to cause more than $5,000 in property damage in an accident. You'd be on the hook for the rest.
  • Your friend's insurance may not cover damage to their own vehicle. If you damage your friend's car while driving, you may be responsible for the full damage.
  • If you get pulled over by the police and something is wrong with the car, the driver of the car is on the hook. (It may be something as simple as a broken taillight or as serious as driving a stolen vehicle.)