Can You Drive a Right-Hand Drive Car in the US?

You can drive a right-hand drive car in the US legally in all 50 states. No federal law and no state law prohibits it. What trips people up isn’t the driving; it’s getting the car into the country in the first place, and then handling the small daily frictions of sitting on the passenger side of an American road.

How RHD Cars Legally Get Into the Country

Almost every right-hand drive car you see on U.S. roads came from Japan, the United Kingdom, or Australia, and each one had to clear two federal doors: the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on safety, and the Environmental Protection Agency on emissions.

The easy path is age. Under 49 CFR 591.5(i), a vehicle that is 25 or more years old can be imported without meeting modern Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.¹ The EPA sets a separate, slightly shorter threshold: vehicles more than 21 years old can qualify for an emissions exclusion as long as the engine is the same model and configuration originally installed.² Both exemptions overlap at 25 years, which is why that’s the number you hear repeated in the JDM import scene. Swap in a non-original engine before importing and you can lose the EPA exemption even on an old-enough car.

At the border you’ll file DOT Form HS-7 and EPA Form 3520-1 with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, along with the bill of lading, bill of sale, and foreign title.³⁴ Keep copies. Your state DMV will ask for them at registration.⁵ False statements on the import forms carry penalties up to $10,000 in fines, five years in prison, or both.⁶

If the Car Is Under 25 Years Old

This is where it gets expensive. A non-conforming vehicle has to be brought up to FMVSS and EPA standards by an NHTSA-approved Registered Importer, a business licensed to modify and certify the car.⁷ On top of the modification bill, you have to post a DOT bond equal to one and a half times the car’s dutiable value, which is separate from the standard customs entry bond.⁴ A $30,000 car needs a $45,000 bond before the process starts.

One narrow exception exists: NHTSA’s Show or Display exemption, for vehicles that are genuinely rare and historically or technologically significant. As a rule, the car must have been built in quantities of 500 or fewer, must be out of production, and must never have been sold in the U.S.⁸ If the exemption is granted, driving is capped at 2,500 miles per year, and your insurance has to reflect that limit. It’s a collector’s path, not a way around the 25-year rule for a daily driver.

The Real Cost of Importing

The sticker price of the car is only the beginning. Line up the following before you buy.

Customs duty of 2.5% of the vehicle’s value on foreign-made passenger cars.⁴
The Merchandise Processing Fee at 0.3464% of value, with a fiscal 2026 minimum of $33.58 and maximum of $651.50.⁹
The Harbor Maintenance Fee of 0.125% of value if the car arrives by sea.¹⁰
Ocean freight, typically $900 to $2,000 for roll-on/roll-off from Japan, or $1,200 to $4,200 for container shipping depending on port.
State sales or use tax at registration, which ranges from zero in a handful of states to over 8% in others.

The one that surprises people is the federal Gas Guzzler Tax. Cars rated under 22.5 MPG owe it, and the amount scales from $1,000 at the top of the range up to $7,700 for anything below 12.5 MPG.¹¹ The statute treats the importer as the manufacturer, so the tax hits at the port. A lot of the ’90s performance cars people want to import land squarely in the taxed range.

Registering and Modifying for U.S. Roads

After customs, you register the car at your state DMV like any other vehicle. Bring the foreign title, the bill of sale, CBP Form 7501 showing you cleared customs, and your HS-7 and 3520-1 copies.⁵ No state bans RHD outright, but some require a safety inspection, and inspectors know what to look for on an import. Call your DMV first so you know what will fail before you spend on parts.

Headlights

This is the modification almost every import needs. Headlights built for driving on the left aim their beam up and to the left, which puts light straight into oncoming drivers’ eyes on American roads. FMVSS 108 requires the opposite pattern: cutoff on the left of the beam, light thrown up and to the right, away from oncoming traffic.¹² Depending on the car, that means new headlight assemblies or a proper re-aim by a shop that has done it before.

Speedometer and Other Lighting

Many imports show speed only in kilometers per hour. Federal rules require MPH, so you’ll need a replacement cluster, a conversion overlay, or a recalibrated unit. Exterior lights (turn signals, brake lights, side markers) also have to meet U.S. color and brightness specifications, which differ from Japanese and European ones.

Getting the Car Insured

Every state requires liability coverage, and you’ll need proof of it to register. Getting a policy on an imported RHD car takes more phone calls than a domestic vehicle. Major insurers price from the VIN, and many foreign RHD cars carry VINs with fewer than the standard 17 characters, which some quoting systems reject outright. A few mainstream carriers will still write the policy using the same rating factors they’d use on any car (age, original value, loss history), but expect a handful of declines first.

Specialty insurers that handle collector, classic, or imported vehicles are usually the better call. They’re built for non-standard VINs and know the market. Have the import paperwork and full VIN in front of you when you call. If the car came in on a Show or Display exemption, the policy has to reflect the 2,500-mile annual cap.⁸

What Driving RHD in the US Is Actually Like

Legality is settled. The daily experience is a different question, and it’s worth being honest about.

Passing on a two-lane road is the real safety issue. Sitting on the right, you can’t see past the car ahead of you into the oncoming lane the way a left-hand drive car lets you. Drivers who’ve adjusted tend to hang back farther before committing to a pass and use a passenger as a spotter when they can. A convex mirror on the left fender helps, but nothing fully replaces being on the correct side for sightlines.

Drive-throughs, toll booths, parking garages, and ATMs are all placed for a driver sitting on the left. You’ll reach across the car, step out, or keep a long-handled grabber in the door pocket. It sounds like a joke until you count how many times a week it comes up.

Left turns at unsignaled intersections also take extra care. You’re on the far side from the traffic you have to judge, and the A-pillar blocks more of your view than it would on a left-hand drive car. None of this is a dealbreaker, but the first few weeks test your patience.

RHD Cars You Can Buy Without Importing Anything

Not every right-hand drive car here came off a ship. Jeep sells a factory RHD Wrangler in the U.S. market, built primarily for rural mail carriers who need to reach curbside mailboxes from the driver’s seat, but available to anyone. It’s built to American standards from the start, so there’s no import process, no bond, and no modification list.

Rural letter carriers are the other big population of RHD drivers on American roads. The Postal Service requires many of them to supply their own vehicle, and an RHD car is a natural fit because the driver sits on the mailbox side. USPS has its own rules for carriers using an RHD vehicle: the lap belt must be worn at all times, and the shoulder belt can be disengaged only if it physically stops the carrier from reaching curbside mailboxes.¹³

1
eCFR. 49 CFR 591.5 – Declarations Required for Importation
2
US EPA. Learn About Importing Vehicles and Engines
3
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Form HS-7
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Importing a Motor Vehicle
5
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Registering a Foreign Vehicle or Motorcycle With the Department of Motor Vehicles
6
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Importing a Vehicle
7
]National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Registered Importers
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NHTSA. How to Import a Motor Vehicle for Show or Display
9
Federal Register. Customs User Fees To Be Adjusted for Inflation in Fiscal Year 2026
10
eCFR. 19 CFR 24.24 – Harbor Maintenance Fee
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 4064 – Gas Guzzler Tax
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eCFR. 49 CFR 571.108 – Standard No. 108 Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment
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About USPS Home. Post Offices – Handbook PO-603 Revision