ORLANDO (REUTERS) - State officials in Florida plan to amend a new state law that has turned thousands of unwitting foreign tourists into illegal drivers and may make it hard for them to collect insurance claims if they get in car accidents while visiting the state.
"We will work with the legislature to amend the law this year so it does not burden international visitors to our state, who make up an important part of our tourism industry," a spokesman for Governor Rick Scott wrote in a statement to Reuters on Tuesday.
The law, which went into effect largely unnoticed on Jan 1, requires foreign drivers to have an international driver's permit (IDP) from their home country. The intent was to make sure all drivers in Florida held a licence translated into English, but many frequent visitors from Canada, England and other English-speaking countries have visited the state without realising they needed the documentation.
The Canadian Automobile Association is warning members that insurers may not pay claims for any accident they have while driving without an international drivers permit in Florida.
"Every single time someone drives without an IDP, it's a risk," said Ms Kristine Simpson, public relations manager for the CAA in Ottawa, which sounded the alarm last week.
Florida's state highway police have said they would not enforce the law and encouraged local law enforcement agencies to follow suit, citing a possible conflict with an international treaty, the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic. But the law remains on the books.
Visit Florida, the state's tourism agency, posted an article on its website on Tuesday warning foreign travelers that they need an international driver's permit, and that the law's impact on their personal auto insurance and ability to rent a car is "uncertain".
International travelers accounted for nearly 15 per cent of Florida's 87.3 million visitors in 2011. Canada tops the list of foreign visitors at 3.3 million, followed by 1.5 million Brazilian and 1.3 million British tourists.
