Driving in California and International Driving License/Permit

I think I better make this correction regarding driving in California. In one of my earlier blogs which I wrote during the initial days of my CA life, I had mentioned something which could mean that if we have international drivers permit (IDP) we can drive in California. That is wrong and I am sorry if it sounded that way.

The reality is the State of California does not accept IDP as a valid driver license irrespective of our nationality. This does not mean that driving in CA is complicated; the driving rule/law is simple and people friendly. 

If you are a visitor on Business Visa (less than or equal to 90 days), just carry the valid driver’s license you have from your country. CA accepts it and no further license is required. If it is in any language other than English, you need to have IDP with you. You can drive a car straight away ( at your own risk ..if you forgot to stop at a red signal, you could  get a $500 ticket. If you do not stop (some conditions apply) when a School Bus's red lights are flashing, its a $1000 ticket).

Those who are on long term visa are considered as resident aliens and in that case, things are different. In this case, we have only 10 days to apply for a California driver license (this means our license from home country is valid only for 10 days). But if we have a valid license from home country, upon passing a written test, the motor vehicles department will issue a temporary permit which is valid for 2 months (apart from the student permit which is valid for a year). With this permit, we can drive alone ; means there is no need for a licensed adult sitting next to us. But if we do not take a license within 2 months,  we can not renew this temporary permit and hence an adult with valid CA license should sit next to us, when we drive.