driving in stt

I would recommend hiring a driving school to teach you how to drive before you attempt to get a license here...they'll go over all of the rules of the road here (we have a few things here different than the States), they'll help you to study for you written test (which is a real bear, due to some strange wording), teach you how to 'drive' and 'park' and also meet you at the BMV for your road test. IslandJoan from this board just recently obtained her diver's license, never having held one here before...PM her and I'm sure she can give you some inside info...

save yourself some time and hassle and get in the states and then just do a transfer when you get here

I agree, get your license in your home state. If you are on a 3 month contract, you will be fine.

My suggestion get it in the states if you are staying permanently then just go change it . It was easy for me, now driving in the VI is completely different than driving in the states first we drive on the left and streets are very winding and and narrow i suggest you practice allot in the states and then practice some in the Vi driving here is not that easy task.

While I agree that getting licensed in your home State and then just switching your physical DL to a VI DL would be the easiest, I don't think it would be the safest for the other drivers on the roads here in the VI. I still vote for using a local instructor, then get your permit, then get your VI DL...JMHO, mind you. This will give you the tools and experience you need for driving here...learning in Michigan (or wherever) and then switching to how we drive here is difficult enough for 'experienced' drivers....

Hi Marty & all,

Thanks for the info. Will take your advice. Driving on the left should be challenge enough not to mention the local conditions.

Good luck to ya...and KEEP LEFT!

stnel,
Do you not drive at all? Never have? If that's the case, and you are just learning, driving on the left will be easier for you than most of us. When you get back to the states, driving on the right will be the tough one!

The hardest part about driving on the left here are our cars are designed to be driven on the right!
However, be it you do not drive now, it shouldn't require the right brain/left brain adjustment......should you decide to just wait til you land in the VI, here is a link to the Daily News, it covers all the VI but geared mostly to STT. Also in the middle left side of the main page is a link you can click for a copy of the drivers manual to study.

http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/

Driving on the left is not as hard as I thought.

I went to STT last week, and the mosquitoes really bother me. We only have one car so far, so, I have to drop the hubby to work then drove (for the first time in STT) to Kmart @ Tutu to get mosquito spray. Mosquitoes are more troublesome that driving on the left. 🙂

Just follow the car in front of you, and you'll be fine.

If you've been a passenger all your life, and you have always observed others driving on the right, you're probably accustomed to that, and I think you will have the same sort of trouble adjusting to driving on the left as other transplants do.

Regardless of where you get your license, I would suggest that you try to be just a passenger in the VI for the first week that you're here, then switch to the driver's seat. Your brain will already have made much of the needed adjusment, and you'll have less to think about all at once.

It worked for me. I lived in the states for 40 years, then moved to the VI and got used to driving on the left. On my first few trips back to the states, I drove on day one, and it was pretty nerve-wracking driving on the right side. Last time I was there, I happened to be just a passenger for the first week, and when I finally drove, it was surprisingly easy.