Overseas Travel Notes丨Guide to avoid pitfalls when renting a car in the United States and the world's "most beautiful" road experience

Bathing in the California sunshine, blowing the sea breeze from the West Coast of the United States, and listening to the sound of the Pacific Ocean lapping the coast, this picture is quite wonderful just thinking about it, and this is the charm brought by California Highway 1. Therefore, the chief travel officer’s trip to the United States is naturally indispensable for checking in at what National Geographic magazine calls “the 50 places you must visit in your lifetime.”

Of course, I believe that all veteran drivers hope to travel by car in the United States. After all, the American road trip culture is quite worth experiencing. So, how can you rent the car of your choice conveniently and quickly in the United States? What small details of driving should you pay attention to?

The Chief Travel Officer will now bring you a car rental guide in California, USA, and a travelogue on California Route 1. With this personal experience and experience, I will take you to appreciate the American car culture and popularize some precautions when driving in the United States.

Car rental process in Nevada, USA

First of all, the chief travel officer recommends that everyone determine the specific itinerary and make plans in advance before going to the United States. Students who are good at English can browse the official websites of foreign car rental companies, such as Hertz, Enterprise, Sixt, etc. Or you can compare prices on similar platforms such as Hui Car Rental and choose your favorite car. It is worth noting that the price quoted on the official website of the car rental company does not include insurance, and insurance varies according to different models.

The chief travel officer chose the Hui Car Rental Platform this time. It is a global car rental vertical search and price comparison website, and the vehicle resources provided are all from large international car rental groups, such as Hertz, Enterprise, Europcar, Sixt et al.

After confirming the time and car model, you will receive a confirmation email, which clarifies the documents required to pick up the car:

Original Chinese passport

< p>Original Chinese driver's license

Global driver's license (translation of Chinese driver's license)

Car pick-up voucher

International credit card in the name of the main driver (note that it is not accepted UnionPay Single Currency Card)

One thing that needs to be made clear here is that if your companions will take turns driving, you need to inform the store staff when picking up the car and pay the corresponding additional driver fees. Relevant documents are required. (About US$15 per person per day, specific conditions are subject to local stores)

Insurance is also a very important part, especially for friends who drive in the United States, it is a very necessary protection to allow you to travel in the United States. You can enjoy the fun of self-driving without any stress during the entire trip. The chief travel officer hereby recommends that everyone buy super comprehensive insurance. Although the price will be relatively high, it is well prepared. As the saying goes, "The poor family is rich," big money has been spent, and there is no need to save small money.

The process of returning the car is also very convenient. Just park the car in the return lane (Car? Return), and a staff member will immediately come to check and complete the return process.

Precautions for driving in the United States

Before starting self-driving, the Chief Travel Officer warmly reminds all experienced drivers: Although most driving rules in the United States and China are similar, driving in California is still required. Pay attention to the following points.

1.?STOP?Sign

Be sure to stop when you see STOP?Sign, and observe the cars coming from the left and right to make sure there are no cars before passing. The Stop sign is also the most common and important sign in the United States. Because many intersections do not have signal lights, you only rely on the Stop sign. If there are STOP signs in all four directions of the intersection, stop and start again in the order you arrive at the intersection.

Note that the STOP sign indicates a stop for one vehicle. It is strictly prohibited to follow the vehicle in front of you and then pass directly.

2.?YIELD (yield sign)

You must slow down or even stop in front of this sign, give priority to vehicles crossing the main road, and only drive onto the main road after ensuring safety. Compared with China, driving in the United States is more disciplined and there are fewer incidents of robberies. Therefore, American drivers generally have no sense of precaution against crossing lanes (they drive in a daze). If they drive unruly (cut off sharp turns) like some drivers in China, accidents are likely to occur when turning left and rushing straight ahead without enough time to avoid the lane.

One of the most common signs means there is a speed limit on this road section. Speed ??is measured in miles per hour as shown on the dial. However, the United States follows the principle of traffic speed limit. If you're on a road where everyone is driving faster than the speed limit, you might as well keep up with them. Looking at it this way, American law really “does not punish the public.” However, the underlying reason for this is that the local authorities want traffic to be as smooth as possible while maintaining safety.

4.?Carpools?Only

In order to reduce the number of cars on the road and encourage multiple people to ride together, many highways will specially designate a special lane on the inside of the road. You can drive into this lane when there are two or more passengers in the car. However, the main carpool lanes are mostly solid lines. If you don’t need to drive too long on the highway, it is not recommended that you drive into this lane.

In the United States, pedestrians have the absolute right of way. If a pedestrian is crossing the road, you must give way to the pedestrian regardless of the situation.

6. Pull?Over

If you experienced drivers are unfortunately pulled over by the police, don’t be nervous or panic. This is a very common thing. If you see the police lights flashing in the rearview mirror, congratulations, you should slow down immediately and pull over to the side to ensure safety. Don't think you can escape. After all, life is not a game like GTA. If you don't pull over as soon as possible, the police will keep chasing you and call more police to stop you. (Friends who are interested in police chases can go to YouTube to find videos on their own)?

After parking the car and turning off the engine, sit in the car and wait, and prepare your driver's license, passport, vehicle information and other documents in advance. The police will come forward to inspect and inform you of the reason for the stop. They will then issue a ticket on the spot or let you go after education.

The Chief Mobility Officer here emphasizes that you should not open the door and get out of the car hastily after parking. You need to stay in the car and keep your hands where the police can see them. Any radical action will cause the police to be highly alert and mistakenly think that you are going to attack him. After all, the United States is a country with free guns, and the work of the police is very dangerous. Once he thinks there is a threat to his life, he has the right to shoot you to death on the spot.

So, before officially hitting the road, everyone must keep in mind various traffic signs, driving regulations and etiquette, and be an experienced driver who drives safely. So now let’s officially hit the road and experience California’s Route 1, known as the “most beautiful” road in the world.

The "most beautiful" highway in the world: Highway 1

The best choice for the West-American Loop is to drive from north to south, because there are many viewing spots on the side of the drive, making it easy to park. Therefore, the chief travel officer’s route this time started from San Francisco and headed to Los Angeles.

There are two scenic spots that impressed me the most along the way, one is Pigeon Point and the other is 17 Miles.

One thing to note is that you cannot directly use the navigation from the starting point to the end point from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Instead, you need to manually set the stops along the way section by section. Because the route chosen by automatic navigation is generally 101 High Way, not Highway 1.

Finally arrived at Pigeon Point, which is the famous Pigeon Point lighthouse on the California coastline.

Next, we came to 17? Miles Drive (17 miles), which was rated as one of the three best scenic driving routes in the United States. The most special thing about it is that this large piece of coastline along the Pacific Ocean is entirely privately owned, so each car here needs to pay a toll of US$10.5 to enjoy the beautiful scenery inside.

This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.