Visiting Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida is a popular vacation for many. However driving in a strange city and even a different country if your from outside the USA can present challenges. Here’s some driving advice for the Orlando, Florida area.
If you decide to get a USA car hire and do your own driving on your Disney vacation there are some things you should know. First of course is that everyone drives on the right hand side of the road. If your from a place where you drive on the left it will take a little getting use to, however you quickly learn it.
Remember that you will be in a tourist area, which means many other people are driving around on vacation and don’t know where they are going. Watch for other cars making sudden lane changes and turns as they come up to exits too fast. Or cars braking suddenly as they see their exit and they are in the wrong lane.
Most roads in Orlando Florida are 2 and 3 lanes wide each way. Avoid the left hand lanes as those are for fast moving traffic. However if you need to make a left hand turn merge into the left lane a mile or so before your turn. That way your not cutting someone off as you swerve into the lane in a hurry.
The center lane is the safest place to be if your driving for a long distance. You avoid cars merging into traffic on your right while avoiding the fast, reckless drivers in the left lane. Try to know how far your next left or right turn is and get into that lane a mile or so before it.
Many roads in Orlando have one or two left hand only or right hand only lanes at intersections. So make sure your in the right lane as you come to one so you are not blocked into the forward only lanes if you need to make a turn.
Almost all intersections have stop lights. When the lights turn from red to green, often the left only lights come on first. This gives all cars making a left both ways the right of way to turn. So if your in the forward only lanes make sure you don’t hit the gas when you see the left turn only green lights come on!
In the summer Orlando Florida has brief thunderstorms almost every afternoon. The rain often comes down very hard for a few minutes before letting up. Often the rain comes down so hard it’s hard to see where your going.
If you get stuck driving your rental car in a rain burst, slow down and turn on your lights and wipers, which is required by law. Do NOT suddenly stop or put on your blinker lights. Turn the wipers on high if you need to and watch for other cars ahead that may suddenly stop, or cars parked on the side of the road.
Finally it’s the law to always wear seat belts and babies and very young kids need to be in child safety seats. You cannot have any open containers of alcohol in your car while driving. I hope these Orlando, Florida driving tips help you have a great Disney vacation! 
