Relicensed to drive

Well if today’s subject is going to be driving, I might as well take this opportunity to address the issue of Israeli and international driving licenses. A lot of people are confused about whether they need an international license to drive abroad or whether their Israeli licenses alone are enough. Many have heard of people being arrested for driving with just their Israeli licenses.

So first let me point out that different countries (and different States in the US) have different law regarding who they allow to drive with a foreign license unaccompanied by an international license if at all. The advantage to the Israeli license is that the information is written on it in English in addition to hebrew so that a US or British policeman doesn’t have to try and guess as to whether the foreign script on the card means you’re a rotary club member, licensed to drive, or licensed to kill.
On the flip side, the biggest problem with the Israeli license is the loaded wording. Israeli licenses are called “permits” which while all fine and well denotatively, is problematic in those places (such as New York State for example) where a permit is not a license but merely permission for a student driver to do their practice driving under certain conditions (such as with an adult with a valid NY State driving license) in the car with them. Therefore there was a problem awhile back where Israeli drivers were being arrested in New York City for driving with their Israeli licenses simply because of the wording.

To me the isue doesn’t seem worth fighting over. On a recent trip to the US I decided to go check out the cost of an international driver’s license and discovered that it cost a measly 13 shekels to get one and you get it on the spot. Essentially all it is is an internationally recognized document you keep with your license to tell foreign police that you’re a licensed driver in your home country.

Flash red not green

I was listening to a program this evening on Reshet Bet about road safety.  The discussion panel spent a good 10 minutes discussing whether there should or shouldn’t be a flashing green light before it changes at a crossroads.  Those who argued in favor of keeping it said that cancelling it out altogether will give no warning and have people crossing on red.  It seems to me that this is a misguided way of thinking.  IMHO leave the flashing light – but make it red.  A flashing green light is a temptation to a driver: “quickly the light is green you can still get past legally but you’re going to have to speed up to make it while I’m still this color.”  A flashing red light on the other hand sends the message “no more crossing, this light is red already.  If you’re already partway through rush out before I’m a solid red if you haven’t reached the crossing yet might as well slow down because there’s a red light ahead of you.

The point of the flashing light should be to put the driver’s mindset in a stop/slow down mode, not jolt him into a “hurry up and finish what you’re doing now” mode.

An Item of Notary

I often see people asking on forums where they can find a US notary in their proximity so that they don’t have to shlep over to the embassy in Tel Aviv and pay for their notary services. The answers given are generally wrong. Following is information I received from 2 local US notaries on this issue AFTER having first shelled out money to have the notarization done by a local American notary.

1) Being both a US citizen and a licensed notary does NOT make you an American notary (obvious you’d think, but you’d be suprised how often when the question arises people in my town are referred to an Israeli licensed notary just because they know she’s American born)

2) Even those who ARE licensed US notaries are ONLY allowed to notarize while physically present in the state in which they’re licensed to notarize (possibly in the embassy as well but if you’re going to the embassy why drag a notary along?). Therefore for those matters that don’t require that the person whose document it is be present when the signing is done, US notaries can sign and claim they did it while abroad and physically in the state in which they’re licensed. However, if your document needs to be notarized with you physically present then your only choice is the embassy.

Should you wish to take the risk of having a non-embassy notary sign it you do so at your own risk and may well end up (as I once did) paying money only to have the whole thing rejected and sent back to you from the US department requiring the notarization with a notice that they only accept notarization abroad from an embassy notary. Thus not only have you paid for a useless service but you’ve delayed the process you wanted to get done and still have to go to the embassy.

Therefore check carefully as to whether your document requires your physical presence during notarization before deciding how to proceed. if you’re unsure and can’t get a concrete answer then best not to take the risk.