PRACTICAL IDEAS Traffic In Florida every foreigner may drive a car as long as he has got a valid driver's licence in his home country. Residents of a few countries will have to present an international driver's licence. Before entering a car you should, however, be familiar with the following traffic regulations: Traffic lights: Red: Stop. Yellow: Attention, lights will change from green to red. Green: Go on. Green arrow: Go on in the direction told. Red flashing light: Stop, then go on slowly. Yellow flashing light: Slow down, then go on slowly. Traffic regulations: In Florida they drive on the right. If you want to overtake on the highway, use the left lane. Turning right with red lights: After having stopped you may turn off to the right with red lights, unless it is prohibited by other signs. Speed: The maxium speed on highways is 70 mph (112 km/h), in residential areas between 20 and 40 mph (32 - 64 km/h). Signs on the road tell you the required speed and we advise you to strictly follow them! Accidents: All accidents have to be reported to the local police station, the County Sheriff's Office or the Florida Highway Patrol. School busses: While passengers get on or off the school bus all cars on both sides of the street must stop. They won't have to do this if the highway is divided into two different lanes. Rescue service cars: All cars have to get out of the way of police cars, ambulances or fire brigades as well as all others with sirens and/or red lights. Toll motorway / Turnpikes: Airport Expressway: City of Miami to Miami International Airport, 14 km. Bee Line Expressway: Orlando to Cape Canaveral, 85 km. Dolphin Expressway: City of Miami to Palmetto Expressway, 14 km. Everglades Expressway: Business area of South Orlando, 22 km. Florida Turnpike: Wildwood to Homestead, 510 km. J. Turner Butler Expressway: S. R. 115 to Jacksonville Beach, 16 km. Sawgrass Parkway: northwest of Fort Lauderdale, 35 km. South Crosstown Expressway: Tampa, 28 km. There are constantly new roads that make new links possible. In order to be up to date on this you should get yourself a Florida Official Transportation Map, available at the Florida Department of Commerce, Collins Building, Tallahassee, FL 32399-2000. Maps are also obtainable at petrol stations. They were formerly given out to travellers for free, nowadays they will charge you one to two dollars for a map. In tourist offices you will, however, get maps and more information for free. The prices for petrol do, of course, also change in Florida. Among other reasons they depend on whether it is a self-service station or whether you will be served. Electricity The USA do have 110 V, AC. Do bring your own adapters or transformers, if necessary. Festivals / Public Holidays In Florida there are so many festivals or special events over the year that it would just be too much to list them all! It is easier to mention that all towns and villages with tourism organise lots of festivals like music or film festivals, art events and those with culinary highlights as well as all kind of cultural festivals. A detailed list of all happenings is available at the Department of Commerce, Division of Tourism, 126 W. Van Buren Street, Tallahassee, FL 33299-2000, Tel. 904/487-1462. Municipal, state and county offices as well as most banks and shops are closed on the following public holidays: New Year January, 1st M. Luther King's Birthd January, 15th President's Day 3rd Monday in Feb. Memorial Day last Monday in May Independence Day July, 4th Labor Day first Monday in Sept. Columbus Day Nov., 11th Veteran's Day 11. November Thanksgiving Day 4th Thursday in Nov. Christmas December, 25th Additionally to these holidays that are valid for the whole state, communities or towns might still have their own holidays plus various religious days. Mail / Post Offices Most post offices are open Monday to Friday at usual business times, additionally on Saturdays until noon. Stamps are sometimes also available in supermarkets, hotels and drugstores as well as most air and sea ports and bus stations. Mail boxes are in any post office, in the streets and in hotels. If you have an express, next-day-delivery or par-cels, it will be delivered by the US Post Office, UPS, Federal Express or other courier services whose addresses you will find in the Yellow Pages. Shopping There's nothing you cannot buy in Florida's shops! You can just get everything. In general, shops are open Monday to Saturday from 9 am to 9 pm, and from 9 am to 6 pm on Sundays. Bed sizes In the U.S., one finds the following standard bed sizes: Twin size (99 x 190.5 cm) is designed for one person and is therefore also called single. Twin X-Long Size (99 x 203 cm) isa single bed for a large person. This bed size is found mainly in dormitories. Full size (137 x 190.5 cm) is the smallest double bed size and also called Double Bed. Queen size (152 x 203 cm) is wider and longer than a Full. King size (193 x 203 cm), this bed is much wider as Queen. Is in some places referred to as the Eastern King. Cal-King size (183 x 213 cm), also called Western King is slightly narrower, but longer than a Eastern King is and mainly found in California. Telecommunication Florida is divided into 18 sections with different area codes: 239, 305, 321, 352, 386, 407, 561, 689, 727, 754, 772, 786, 813, 850, 863, 904, 941 and 954. A number starting with 800 is toll-free. For a long-distance call into one of these sections you have to dial a "1" before the actual number of the person you want to call. For calls out of one of these sections dial "1" + area code + number you want to call. Should you need any kind of information dial "Zero" for the operator. With "0" you can also ask for so-called collect calls which are paid by the receiver of the call, or ask for international calls that are put through by the operator. It is, however, cheaper to make a direct call abroad. If you want to do so dial "011" + country code + area code + number you want to call. Most favorable are calls between 5 pm and 11 pm, even more favorable between 11 pm and 8 am and on Saturdays and Sundays until 5 pm. Tips Most of all staff working in the service section do expect a tip, including porters and page boys. Appropriate is: $ 0,50 to 1,00 per piece of luggage. Taxi drivers expect 15 to 20 % of the fare, room maids $1 to 2 per day, waiters and hair-dressers 15 to 20 % of the total sum. This information is valid with the drawing up of these pages and are subject to change at any time. We therefore cannot guarantee for them being complete and/or valid.