.IDL required in Switzerland?
Renting a car in Lausanne, is IDL required?
Darlene
Henderson 3/3/13
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No, it is not required.
It is a permit, not a license. It is a translation of your license into several languages. Even if it is not required, it is a good idea to have one. It clarifies for authorities that your home license is valid in a form that is easy for them to understand.
Nancy makes an excellent point ,allow me to add to what she says ; the correct terminology is an " International Driver Permit " or IDP , NOT a License ! The IDP is available in the US only from AAA . Those documents called an International " License " are a useless , meaningless scam . In addition , I agree with Nancy's comment about having one regardless . The cost ( about $20 USD ) is not much money and I carry one on every trip ,even if I am not renting a car ! Why , you ask ? In case I change my mind at the last minute , I'm prepared .
If you go through AAA make sure to have two photos...learned that one this weekend. The need one for the permit and one for the application.
Darlene,
One additional point to add.....
As an International Driver's Permit is not a license, it must be used in conjunction with your home D.L. It is NOT a "stand alone" document. An I.D.P, is valid for one year.
I always pack along an I.D.P. on every trip, just in case I decide to rent a car (which has happened in the past). In some countries (Italy, Greece), an I.D.P. is compulsory.
Cheers!
Thanks for everyone's advice - think I will get one from AAA just to be safe.
I have rented probably 50 cars in Switzerland in the last 20 years and I never needed the IDP. In fact I have witnessed a colleague offering to show his IDP and that was dismissed as irrelevant.
It won't hurt to have it if you feel more comfortable but it is not needed.
"I have witnessed a colleague offering to show his IDP and that was dismissed as irrelevant."
It may be "irrelevant" most of the time in Switzerland, but if a foreign driver is involved in any kind of "motor vehicle incident", it's a really good idea to have an I.D.P.
Why? The Swiss Driver License is roughly the same layout. An American driver license will not confuse anybody in Switzerland. It is not particularly cryptic.
The fact that and IDP is not required in Switzerland means it is not required, will not be required, and there will be no penalty for not having one. To go get one stiffs you twenty-five bucks for no reason and lines AAA's pocket. Plus it burns an hour of your time.
On a related tangent. One of the IDP's languages is Chineses. But, it is of no use in China. Never, not once, not at all. Ask me why I have a Chinese driver's license. Never mind. I'll go ahead and tell you. It's because . . . .