State of alcoholic intoxication:

• alcohol level 0,2 ppm (concentration 0,1 mg alcohol per liter of exhaled air)
• punishing with a fine or imprisonment

The state of strong alcoholic intoxication:

• alcohol level 1,0 ppm (concentration 0,5 mg alcohol per liter of exhaled air)
• punishing with imprisonment

Permille

Permille (‰) means one-thousandth, or tenth of a percent. When it comes to alcohol, ppm is the concentration of alcohol in the blood. 1 part pure alcohol to 1000 parts blood.

PPM and consequences:

• 0,1 – 0,4 – changes in behavior and mental state. There is a tendency to overestimate one’s own abilities. The reaction time is deteriorating. The stopping distance increases by about a third.
• 0,4 – 1,0 – vision, coordination, and speech are significantly impairing.
• 1,0 – 2,0 – loss of balance, lack of coordination, double vision.
• 2,0 – 3,5 – deep sleep.
• > 3,5 – high risk of coma or death.

Alcoholic intoxication

• The state of alcoholic intoxication can be assessed as strong, also with an alcohol concentration below 1,0 ppm, in the presence of aggravating circumstances. Such a circumstance may be, for example, a repeated case of violation.
• Also, the law provides for punishment for those who give alcohol to people about whom they knew that they were going to get behind the wheel. Handing over your car to a drunk driver is also punished.
• If you did not even get behind the wheel but were caught under the influence of alcohol for other violations, then your driver’s license may be revoking.
• The ban on driving while intoxicated applies not only to cars but to all vehicles, including, for example, bicycles.
• There is no way you can speed up the elimination of alcohol from the body. It only takes time.
• The day after drinking alcohol, the effects of alcohol intoxication on the body can still be observing.
• Blood alcohol concentration is influenced by gender, weight, health status, type of drinks consumed, snacks, and rate of consumption.
• Two people who have drunk the same amount of alcohol may have different blood alcohol concentrations.
• The drunk driving ban applies everywhere, including on private roads and fenced-in private areas.

Drug and medication use

• Unlike alcohol, there is no acceptable level for drugs. Even the smallest concentration of drugs while driving will be considered a serious crime.
• If an emergency occurs due to medication, the same legal provisions apply as in the case of drugs.
• Even if a doctor has prescribed a drug for you, you are not allowing to drive if the drug affects you similar to alcohol or drug intoxication, affects your concentration, slows down your reaction speed, affects your vision, etc.
• There is no list of drugs that can be used to drive. It is always your decision and your responsibility to assess your own condition and decide to drive or refrain from driving.

Mobile phone use

Mobile phone use is about as dangerous as drunk driving. It doesn’t matter if you hold the phone in your hands or use the speakerphone for a conversation.

• The greatest danger is the fact that during a conversation you are distracting from the road.
• It is forbidding to use mobile phones, walkie-talkies, and similar devices if this distracts the driver from driving.
• Hands-free devices do not reduce the risk of using phones while driving.
• Sending SMS while driving is the most dangerous way to use a mobile phone while driving.

Statistics

• In Sweden, about 70 people a year die as a result of accidents caused by drunk drivers. This is about 25% of the total number of victims on the road.
• Every day from 15 to 20 thousand people allow themselves to drive drunk.
• Every year about 30 thousand people are convicting of drunk driving, of which about 10 thousand for the use of drugs or medication.
• About 50% of drivers death in solitary accidents were drinking.
• 30% of the dead pedestrians and cyclists were drinking.
• 90% of drunk drivers are men, mostly young and middle-aged.

According to statistics, young drivers are at the highest risk of death on the road.

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The traffic in Florida is not so chaotic, the speed limit is generally observed, and the markings exist not only for beauty. Although most national traffic rules are based on the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, they all have their differences.

Florida has a low exam fee. You will only have to pay extra if you fail to pass the theory or practice the first time. To take the exam you do not must be a US citizenship or residence permit is required.

Florida does not require a driving school certificate, although some other states do. To take the exam for a foreigner, all you need is a passport, national driving certificate, and a printout from the website of the border service indicating the period of legal stay in the country. A temporary driver’s license will be issued for the same period.

You can choose the date of the exam and sign up for it on the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles website, where you can choose the time and department.

The theoretical test for the exam will be on a computer. Questions are displayed on the screen, and it is enough to touch the correct answer. There are a total of 50 questions in the test, and you need to successfully answer 40. It turns out that you have 20% on the error, and you can skip the awkward questions, that is, skip them to the end of the list.

The next step is driving test. The area for this behind the building. You may provide independently the car with valid insurance. If you do not have a car – it’s not a problem. There are many cars belonging to driving schools in the parking lot, which can be rented for 20-30 dollars.

In addition, your car must meet certain requirements: no excessive backlash in the steering, service brakes and brake lights, turn signals, and other usual things such as mirrors, windshields, and four wheels. Among the requirements is one interesting – the maximum height of the bumper from ground level.

In case of unsuccessful passing of the exam, you can take the exam also resend but after a while.

After passing the exam, all you have to do is pay $70 and get a Florida driver’s license in 5 minutes.

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In Florida, a driver’s license can be suspended not only for violation of traffic rules but also for many other minor violations of the law.

Absenteeism; drawing graffiti in an unauthorized place; issuance of checks not supported by real money; smoking before the age when the state is allowed to use tobacco products; sexting is an incomplete list of violations due to which a driver’s license can be suspended in Florida.

One of the reasons is also the failure to pay a fine for violation of traffic rules, and sometimes these are quite large amounts: traveling to the red light will cost the state drivers $ 166, and speeding $ 300.

That is, if you do not pay a fine of $ 200 overtime, the driver receives a suspension of the driver’s license, and the fine increases to $ 500 if he was detained for driving with a suspended license. If you try to pay it by installments, then skipping at least one payment will again lead to the suspension of the driver’s license, and for their restoration, you will have to pay $ 65.

If the driver gets behind the wheel after the suspension of the license, and this is discovered, he faces another fine. Three cases of detention for driving with a suspended license are considered a criminal offense and are punishable by a prison term.

Currently, more than 700 people are serving jail terms in Florida prisons for driving with a suspended license.

The use of the practice of suspension of a license for minor violations that are not related to driving is only increasing over the years. In 2013, the state suspended 1.3 million licenses, in 2017 there were about 1.7 million.

Although the suspension of driver’s licenses, in addition to fines and other penalties, was supposed to prompt people to solve their problems with the law as quickly as possible, this had the opposite effect, since for many people work related to driving, and suspension of the license deprives them of the opportunity to work, and therefore pay a fine, for which she was suspended. If you use the car with a suspended license, then the fine may increase for driving without a license. Therefore, a kind of vicious circle comes out.

Some state legislators have tried several times to repeal these rules, but the Florida Parliament for some reason refuses to consider such proposals.

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The traffic rules in different states have their own characteristics, but for a comfortable journey it is enough to know the general provisions and the presentation. Distances are measured by miles, speed, respectively, in miles per hour.

Road signs. They are text. For example, turning right is denoted as a sign with the text No Turn Right and so on. Some sound specific – a dead end, for example designated as Dead End, and a crosswalk as Ped Xing (stylized short for pedestrian crossing).

Roads. They are of excellent quality with many interchanges, alternatives and conventions. Counter-directions outside the cities are divorced.

Navigator is needed, otherwise it is very easy to drive a few hundred miles, given the distance. Even-numbered roads numbered east-west (west-east), odd-numbered north-south (south-north).

Congresses from highways are numbered and marked on the map, the principle of numbering is usually tied to the distance (blink). Next to the number of the convention, the nearest large city to which this road leads is often written.

Compliance with traffic rules and fines. Speeding, fines and minor violations. Speed limits are regulated by signs indicating the speed in miles, for example, Speed Limit 55 means that the limit is 55 miles per hour. Excess is generally allowed at 10 miles per hour, this is due to the accuracy of the measuring device of the police. Can stop and 5 miles per hour above the limit, especially in residential areas.

The exception to this rule is motion in a stream. If there is a limit of 55 miles, and the stream travels at a speed of 90 miles, no police will stop and you even have to drive at the same speed without interfering on the highway.

The general rule – focus on the flow of cars. If you do not know how to behave on a particular stretch of road, also do like other drivers.

In California, motorcyclists are allowed to ride between the lanes, which they use during traffic jams, so you need to be careful while rebuilding in traffic jams so as not to knock down motorcyclists who are cutting zigzags between slow-moving cars. In other states it is forbidden!

Special bands. There is a strip, which is designated Carpool, on it can go cars in which two or more people and electric vehicles. Carpool or HOV (High Occupancy Lane) is in many states. Such dedicated lanes are usually marked with a diamond on the road or the inscription HOV. In addition, at the entrance to this lane is a sign indicating the minimum number of people in the car, which gives the right to enter it. In most cases, this is 2 people, but there are 3, so you need to be careful. The penalty for violation starts at $ 371.

The yellow marking is always to the left of the driver in the direction of travel. If it is on the right, then you are driving on an opposite.

Stops on the highways. It is impossible to stop on the highways, except for short stops, the emergency signal can be turned on, you can not turn it on. We always stopped for a photo, no problems, the police can stop and ask if there are any problems.

It is not necessary to turn on the low beam, but it is easier to turn on – this way you are more noticeable on the road. In the vast majority of cars, it turns on automatically.

Seat belts – the front passengers must be fastened, the passenger himself, not the driver, will pay fines for the seat belt.

Wherever we went, in California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, huge fines for throwing garbage. As when driving and at stops – up to 10,000 US dollars. Do not do this. However, this is a general rule in their own country as well. Fines for speeding start at $ 200, for example in California.
It is strictly impossible to cross two double center lines – the so-called barrier, under any circumstances. One double axial cross in some cases is possible. Again, focus on other road users.

Allowed to turn on the red signal of the traffic light, as well as here, except for those places where there is a sign No Turn On Red.

In New York, turning right at the red light is prohibited, except for the places that are indicated by a permit sign.

Police. If they want to stop you, they will join you in the back and be announced over the loudspeaker, often just turn on the flasher. If the violation is serious – include all flashers and all audio signals. Overtake will not.

You do not need to leave when you stop. Quietly wait for the cops and open the front window. For minor violations, they simply warn you.
For tourists, the police is a bit softer, but not worth it. Alcohol. Alcohol is tough. The permissible level of 0.08% – a bottle of beer 0.33. Many ignore this rule and drink much more, from the clubs and bars, everyone is leaving in cars, while he is heavily drunk. The police just will not stop and most Americans use it.

It is forbidden to keep alcohol in the car, only in the trunk and only closed. Passengers are forbidden to drink alcohol in the car, even beer. Fines are big.

“… the police often patrol unmarked and take pictures of the perpetrators.

California Resident Comment:

“… a sobriety test – there are mobile checkpoints in popular entertainment districts, stop everyone, without exception, who is moving toward the checkpoint, assess the state visually through an open window, ask a couple of questions, and only if there are signs of serious intoxication ask to go out of the car and pass the test. Such checkpoints are visible from afar and, as a rule, there are no problems driving them round (if you are not so drunk to be overlooked). If they are recognized to be sober, then the total amount of fines, compulsory education in the program to combat by drinking and driving school, raising insurance premiums and paying lawyers’ services can easily exceed $ 10,000. For a tourist it’s better not to drink! ”

Photo registration of violations – there are quite a few cameras everywhere, but they are not used as intensively as in Europe. In California, there are no cameras that automatically register speeding and send photos and fines by mail. In other states, the situation is different – in 13 states they are prohibited by law, in 12 they are allowed and used, in the rest they are not used, but there are no laws prohibiting their use and they may appear in the future. Most cameras are used to check in the red light – they are in 24 states. Parking. In big cities, especially in the center – a motorist’s nightmare, especially a beginner – carefully watch and read the signs. Everything is written there, although in some cases there may be up to 10 plates on the sign at a time. Different conditions of parking on weekdays and weekends, during working hours and in the evening.

Lots of free parking places, but not in popular places or downtown. Near the attractions there is always parking, almost always paid, but there are exceptions. Parking price – from 1 dollar per hour. Underground and multi-level covered parking are much more expensive. Even locals can search for a parking space for about an hour or more. But it is rather an exception to the rule. Expensive parking can be found almost always.

In some cities it is better to do without a car, for example, in San Francisco, and in such as Los Angeles without a car anywhere. Toll roads. They are, but they are very few and you can not use them.

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