On Wed, 12 Jan 2005 00:23:13 -0500, Ed Nuxters > wrote:

>I live in PA. I'm flying out to Ontario, CA and renting a car to go to
>Palm springs - a convention. Are there any weird laws that I should be
>aware of? Does anyone know what differences/precautions I should take
>when renting the car? What abotu differences between driving in PA and
>CA?
>This is my first time driving a rental outside Pennsylvania, and I'm a
>bit nervous. Its about an hour and a half drive from Ontario to Palm
>Springs and I don't want to get lost. It looks like a straight shot on
>Interstate 10. I'll have lots and lots of maps, so I don't forsee any
>real problems.

Nothing really unusual to watch out for. I-10 between Ontario and Palm
Springs is mostly straight and level and should be wide open much of
the time.

California is pretty lax about speed limits (but not in the city of
Palm Springs, expect pretty strict enforcement there) but can be
strict about seatbelts and child safety seats, and there's a new
"lights on in the rain" law.

A few cities (Indian Wells is one) use red-light cameras; fudge just a
fraction of a second on one of these and it's a $340 ticket that your
rental car company will dutifully make sure comes back to haunt you.

Other than that, don't miss: Hadley's (Cabazon exit), one of the
biggest selections of dried fruit, nuts, and the like you'll find
anywhere; Desert Hot Springs Spa (other side of I-10 from Palm
Springs), best place of all for a day-long soak.

--
Chris Green