Bill Stewart <bill.stewart@pobox.com> writes:

I have heard of one case where somebody was stopped in Nevada, and instead of presenting his California driver's license, if any, he presented his somewhere-in-the-Caribbean non-photo license and an international driver's license, and that was just fine for Nevada.

That's because non-US licenses constitute automatic permission for minor traffic law violations. The scenario is something like the following: [Driver gets pulled over]. Driver: "Gidday mate, hows it going?" [Cop asks for license, looks at it] Cop: "Ahhhh, screw it, too much paperwork. Don't do it again. HAND". Peter.