Driving Abroad Checker

Quick answer: an International Driving Permit (IDP) is a translation of your US driver’s license, valid only together with it. In the US only two organizations are authorized by the State Department to issue one: AAA and AATA. It follows the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic, so it is recognised in the 103 countries that are party to that convention, including Italy, France, Spain, Japan and the UK. 76 countries and territories keep left, among them the UK, Ireland, Japan, Australia and the US Virgin Islands.

How to use it

Pick up to three countries you will drive in. For each one the checker shows the side of the road and whether the permit you can get in the US is recognised there by treaty. Whether a country actually requires you to carry the permit, what age you must be to rent, and its other rules are on its State Department country page, under “Travel and Transportation”: the tool links there, and does not guess.

Popular destinations

A dash means not a party: Switzerland signed the 1949 convention but never ratified it, and Mexico signed the 1968 one without ratifying. Where a country is not party to the 1949 convention, check its own rules before counting on the US permit.

Countries that drive on the left

Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bermuda, Bhutan, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Cayman Islands, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Cook Islands, Cyprus, Dominica, Eswatini, Falkland Islands, Fiji, Grenada, Guernsey, Guyana, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Isle of Man, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Macau, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Montserrat, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tanzania, Thailand, The Bahamas, Timor-Leste, Tokelau, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States Virgin Islands, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

The US Virgin Islands are the one place under the US flag that keeps left.

Avoid the fake “international driver’s license”

The Federal Trade Commission warns that websites sell “international driver’s licenses” and permits that are not valid: in the US only AAA and the American Automobile Touring Alliance (AATA) are authorized to issue the permit. It is a booklet that translates your license; it does not replace it, and you must carry both.

Plan the drive

Driving on the left for the first time? The Ireland road trip guide and the New Zealand self-drive itinerary are good first trips. In the Caribbean: is renting a car in Grenada worth it? And for any road trip, the road trip essentials.