International Driving Permit in the Bahamas

🗓 Facts checked against Bahamas's road-traffic law and official sources. Research last updated: 29 July 2026. You may copy this information only if you provide a link back to this page.

⚠ This page is general information about driving rules, not legal advice. Rules change, and each authority applies its own — confirm your case with the relevant authority before you drive.

ℹ We are a private company. We are not a government body, a licensing or issuing authority, or a treaty organisation, and we are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting for any of them. The International Driver's Document we sell is a translation of your national driving licence: it is not a driving licence, and it is not a government-issued document.

• Driving in Bahamas: key facts
• Do you need an International Driving Permit in Bahamas?
• What side of the road does Bahamas drive on?
• How long can you drive in Bahamas with a foreign licence?
• Is Bahamas a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?
• Why acceptance of your licence varies from place to place
• Can you drive in Bahamas with your country's licence?
• Where to get an International Driving Permit
• Moving to Bahamas? Rules for new residents
• Driving rules in Bahamas tourists get fined for
• Read more about driving in Bahamas
• Sources

Driving in Bahamas: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Bahamas?

An IDP is never legally required in The Bahamas. Road Traffic Act (CH.220) s.34(1)(c) lets a bona fide visitor drive if he is either "the holder of a licence to drive a motor vehicle in a place outside The Bahamas OR has in his possession a valid international driving licence issued by the State which recognises international driving licences" — the two are alternatives joined by "or", so a valid home licence on its own is enough. On treaty membership The Bahamas is a Contracting Party only to the 1968 Vienna Convention (accession 14 May 1991, UN MTDSG XI-B-19); it is not listed as a party to the 1949 Geneva Convention in its own right (the pre-independence UK territorial extension of 3 Aug 1961 is not carried in the current participant list). The Act's own wording is nevertheless wider than the treaty: it accepts any "international driving licence issued by the State which recognises international driving licences" without naming a Convention, so a 1949-format IDP (US, Canada, Japan, Australia) is also acceptable on the statutory text. Carry any IDP together with the national licence, not instead of it.

• Tourists and short-term visitors: carry your national licence together with the document named in the row for your country of issue, in the table below — for most origin licences that document is not an IDP, so read your own answer rather than assuming one.
• Car renters: Carry the licence itself at all times — the statutory licence form states "This Licence must be in the possession of the holder at all times when driving a vehicle", and s.59 lets a uniformed officer demand production; failing to produce within 48 hours is a B$40 fine. Carry the passport too, since the exemption depends on being a bona fide visitor, plus the rental agreement and the certificate of insurance (failing to produce that within 48 hours is a B$100 fixed penalty).

No specific penalty for driving without the required document was verified from an authoritative source. Official source.

What side of the road does Bahamas drive on?

Bahamas drives on the left-hand side of the road, and overtaking is done on the right. Left-hand traffic, but most cars are left-hand drive (US imports).

How long can you drive in Bahamas with a foreign licence?

Up to three months, but the three months is built into the definition of the person entitled to the exemption, not granted as a driving clock. Road Traffic Act (CH.220) s.34(1)(c) requires that the driver "is a bona fide visitor to The Bahamas", and the same paragraph provides: "For the purposes of this paragraph the expression 'bona fide visitor to The Bahamas' means a person who is a visitor to The Bahamas for a period not exceeding three months and who is not employed in The Bahamas." Two consequences the source dossier missed: (1) the exemption is lost from day one for anyone employed in The Bahamas, however short the stay — a work-permit holder must hold a Bahamian licence, not run a three-month grace period; (2) if the stay itself is intended to exceed three months the person is not a "bona fide visitor" at all. Separately, an IDP does not extend this window: s.34(1)(c) makes the IDP an alternative document for the same bona-fide-visitor exemption, so the three-month cap applies to the IDP route too. The only three-month period that attaches to a document rather than to the person is in the Motor Car (International Circulation) Order para 7, and that exempts the foreign-registered vehicle from Bahamian registration, not the driver. (Road Traffic Act (CH.220) s.34(1)(c) and the definition of "bona fide visitor to The Bahamas", LRO 1/2006 consolidation)

Planning to move to Bahamas? Different rules apply once you become a resident — see the residents section below.

Is Bahamas a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?

Bahamas is a Contracting Party to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, but not to the 1949 Geneva Convention.

• 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic: accession on 14 May 1991.

Why acceptance of your licence varies from place to place

Whether a foreign country accepts your driving licence hangs on a tangle of variables: three different road-traffic conventions signed decades apart (1926, 1949, 1968) — the oldest predates the United Nations itself, and only the latter two were concluded under it — countries at different stages of joining each (signed vs. accepted vs. ratified), licences printed in alphabets local police can't read, vehicle-category systems that don't line up between countries, document generations that may not meet a convention's format even when the country is a member, bilateral deals between individual states, and local laws that are looser in one place and stricter in the next. The same licence can be fine at one border and rejected at the next — even at the next rental desk. The International Driving Permit exists to cut through most of it: a standardized, multilingual presentation of your existing licence, with harmonized category symbols, that most officials can read at a glance. It doesn't replace your national licence or grant new rights — you carry both — and it doesn't guarantee acceptance: a handful of destinations still require a local permit alongside or instead of it, but for most it meaningfully improves your odds.

Can you drive in Bahamas with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Bahamas as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. The Bahamas lets a bona fide visitor drive on the driving licence of any country. Road Traffic Act (CH.220) s.34(1)(c) recognises "the holder of a licence to drive a motor vehicle in a place outside The Bahamas" with no language, script, alphabet or Convention condition, and an International Driving Permit is offered as an alternative document, never as a requirement. Two limits do the real work: the exemption runs only while you are a visitor "for a period not exceeding three months", and it is unavailable to anyone "employed in The Bahamas" — from the first day, not after ninety of them. Rules change — confirm with official sources before you travel. Last verified: July 2026.

Legend: "1949" — Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (IDP valid up to 1 year); "1968" — Vienna Convention (IDP valid up to 3 years).

What the Status column means on this page:

• National licence OK — the destination lets a visitor drive on the national licence itself. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, gives the basis, and any period or condition that qualifies it.
• National licence OK — IDP advised — the destination does not require an IDP for this licence, but carrying one is advised. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, gives the reason and any conditions attached.
• Not established — the record does not settle whether you may drive here on this licence; confirm with the destination's licensing authority before you rely on it. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, says what could not be confirmed.
• National licence OK — IDD/translation advised — the destination does not require an IDP for this licence, and no official convention IDP can be issued for it; carry an IDD or a certified translation instead. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, gives the reason and any conditions attached.

Sources and notes for the table above

[1] Road Traffic Act (CH.220) s.34(1)(c), LRO 1/2006 — "the holder of a licence to drive a motor vehicle in a place outside The Bahamas"

[a] Licence categories do not follow the convention A–E scheme — rental staff may ask for an IDP to map them.

[b] IDD = International Driver's Document, a standardized translation of your national driving licence. You can apply here: https://idaoffice.org/apply-now/.

Where to get an International Driving Permit

An International Driving Permit must be obtained before you travel, and only certain countries may issue one to you — you cannot buy an official IDP from an unrelated country. Under the 1968 Vienna Convention it may be issued only by the Contracting Party where you normally reside and which issued or recognizes your licence — by that Party's competent authority or by an association it has duly empowered. Under the 1949 Geneva Convention it is issued by the competent authority of a Contracting State, or by an association that authority has duly empowered. Which body that is varies by country: a government agency in some, an authorized motoring club in others.

• Travelling from Bahamas? Bahamas's official IDPs are issued by Road Traffic Department (RTD). Official site.
• Travelling from another country? Ask that country's driving-licence authority which body it authorizes to issue IDPs — a government agency in some countries, an authorized motoring club in others.

Separately, IDA offers a digital International Driver's Document — a translation of your national licence that you carry alongside it. It is not an International Driving Permit issued under the 1949 or 1968 conventions by the body your country authorizes for that purpose, and it is not a certified, sworn or otherwise official translation: no authority certifies it, and where a country requires an official or certified translation by law, our document does not satisfy that requirement. It is a private translation meant to make your national licence readable at rental desks and roadside checks.

Moving to Bahamas? Rules for new residents

Two different clocks. The visitor exemption in s.34(1)(c) is available only to a person who is in The Bahamas "for a period not exceeding three months" and "is not employed in The Bahamas". Anyone who takes up employment or residence therefore falls outside it immediately and needs a Bahamian licence — there is no three-month settling-in period for residents or work-permit holders. The Motor Car (International Circulation) Order para 8 makes the parallel point for the vehicle: "If such person remains in The Bahamas with his motor car beyond the period of three months, he shall be treated in all respects as a resident." Official source.

Driving rules in Bahamas tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: Seat belts are compulsory by statute, not custom: s.42C(1)–(2) bars driving or riding without a belt, and s.42C(3) requires any passenger under five years old to be "secured in a child passenger seat positioned in the rear passenger seat". Penalties: B$300 on summary conviction under s.42C(4), or fixed penalties of B$100 (driver/child) and B$150 (adult passenger). Section 42B exempts tractors, motor cycles, most omnibus and truck rear seats, certified disability vehicles, and cars built before 1986 or trucks before 1972 — so an older hire vehicle may legitimately have no belts. Motorcycle helmets meeting ISO standards are compulsory for rider and passenger (Road Traffic (Motor Cycles) (Protective Helmets) Regulations, B$100 first offence). Third-party insurance is mandatory (s.8; B$250 fixed penalty). No warning triangle, hi-vis or spare-wheel requirement was found in the legislation — confirm what the rental provider supplies.
• Drink-driving: Statutory, not just "published": Road Traffic Act s.49 makes it an offence to drive, attempt to drive or be in charge of a motor vehicle "after consuming so much alcohol that the proportion of it in his breath, blood or urine exceeds the prescribed limit", and s.49E(2) defines "the prescribed limit" as "35 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath" and 107 mg per 100 ml of urine — the UK-standard triple, equivalent to 0.08 g/100 ml (0.08%) of blood. (The blood figure is printed in the LRO consolidation as "80 milligrammes of alcohol in 10 millilitres of urine", an evident typographical error in the official text for 80 mg per 100 ml of blood.) Treat zero as the safe operating rule. Section 49(1) creates the over-the-limit offence; s.49(2) sets a fine of B$200 or two months' imprisonment (or both) for being in charge of a vehicle while unfit, and s.49(3) allows arrest without warrant. A court may cancel or suspend a driver's licence under s.53. Refusing a breath, blood or urine specimen under s.49A–49B is itself an offence. Insurance cover is normally void for drink-driving. Drink-driving is not on the fixed-penalty schedule — it goes to the Magistrate's Court.
• Speed limits: Limits are in mph and set by regulation. Statutory default where no local regulation applies: s.43(3) — "the speed limit in respect of that road shall be thirty miles an hour". Under the Motor Vehicle and Speed Limit Regulations (LRO 1/2017): 25 mph within the central Nassau limits (including Shirley Street and Johnson Road); 45 mph for cars on the specified New Providence highway corridors (30 mph there for trucks and larger omnibuses); on Paradise Island 15 mph where signed, otherwise 25 mph for cars and 20 mph for trucks and larger omnibuses; 30 mph elsewhere; and 20 mph past roadworks (S.I. 12/2002). Separate Speed Limit Regulations exist for Grand Bahama, Eleuthera, Andros, Inagua, San Salvador and other islands. Penalty: B$100 fixed penalty, or on summary conviction B$250–500 for a first offence, B$500–1,000 for a second, and disqualification of up to 12 months for a third (s.43(4)).
• Carry the licence itself at all times — the statutory licence form states "This Licence must be in the possession of the holder at all times when driving a vehicle", and s.59 lets a uniformed officer demand production; failing to produce within 48 hours is a B$40 fine. Carry the passport too, since the exemption depends on being a bona fide visitor, plus the rental agreement and the certificate of insurance (failing to produce that within 48 hours is a B$100 fixed penalty).
• Traffic drives on the left, but most cars are US imports and left-hand drive — a combination that catches out visitors at junctions and roundabouts. UK FCDO: "Although traffic drives on the left-hand side of the road, most vehicles, including hire cars, are imported from the USA and are left-hand drive." Distances and limits are in miles per hour.
• Bringing your own foreign-registered vehicle (relevant mainly to yacht and Florida arrivals) is a separate regime: under the Motor Car (International Circulation) Order para 7 a car covered by an International Certificate issued abroad under a Convention to which The Bahamas has adhered "may whilst such certificate remains valid, be exempted from any requirement to register or hold a licence in respect of such motor car in The Bahamas for a period not exceeding three months" — but only if the certificate is presented to the Controller of Road Traffic "for proper recording and endorsement". Beyond three months the owner "shall be treated in all respects as a resident".
• Island-by-island practice differs and is not codified: confirm with the rental company whether the vehicle may be taken to another island by ferry or mail boat, whether the insurance follows it, and what happens after a hurricane, when road and ferry conditions change quickly. Not verified against any operator on 29 July 2026.

Read more about driving in Bahamas

• 10 Interesting Facts About The Bahamas
• Best Places to Visit in The Bahamas

Watch what driving in Bahamas looks like

A few minutes of real POV footage is the fastest way to feel confident before your first drive in Bahamas:

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. Resident licence conversion rule
3. Road Traffic Act, CH.220 — Subsidiary Legislation, LRO 1/2017 (188 pp). Relabelled: this is the consolidated subsidiary-legislation volume, not a standalone set of "International Circulation Regulations". It contains the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations 2000, the Motor Vehicle and Speed Limit Regulations, the Motor Car (International Circulation) Order (s.92) and the Road Traffic (Fixed Penalty) Regulations S.I. 31/2012.
4. UN MTDSG XI-B-19 — Convention on Road Traffic, Vienna 8 November 1968: "Bahamas (The) ... 14 May 1991 a". 91 parties.
5. UN MTDSG XI-B-1 — Convention on Road Traffic, Geneva 19 September 1949: 103 parties; the Bahamas does not appear in the participant list (pre-independence UK territorial extension of 3 August 1961 only).
6. UK FCDO travel advice — Bahamas: "You can use a UK photocard driving licence to drive in The Bahamas for up to 3 months"; left-hand traffic with left-hand-drive US-import hire cars; 1968 IDP referenced for older paper licences.
7. UK FCDO travel advice — Bahamas (health): "Call 911 or 919 and ask for an ambulance." Confirms the emergency numbers.
8. Road Traffic Department (RTD) — authorized IDP issuer in Bahamas
9. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
10. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic