Bilbo's Car

Finally, five months into the Abu Dhabi experience, I have a rental car. Technically, I suppose, I could have rented one earlier, but I was waiting until I had all forms filled out. So, once I squared away my Emirati ID card (more on that epic adventure later) and my driver's license, I finally felt empowered to go rent a car from Hertz at the airport (which is only around ten minutes away). While several of my friends here have cars, I grew tired of mooching rides off them and wanted more freedom. So, I popped over and rented a Toyoto Yaris, which is a little hobbit car. However, they are pretty peppy and pretty popular. I've had to memorize the license plate because so many people own or rent a white Yaris. I pleased with the nice woman at the counter for a blue or red one, but they are very rare. So, here it is. I suppose it's not that big of a deal, but if you factor in the fact that I haven't really owned a car in over two and a half years I'm oddly happy to have my little Yaris. Now I only have to avoid getting creamed. The UAE, besides being number one in the world in per capita carbon footprint, is also number one in crashes per capita. The Emiratis, bless their souls, are just really crazy drivers. I heard this morning, and I find this to be completely believeable, that last year when they had a big rain there were 6500 wrecks in one morning in Abu Dhabi. Yikes. Now, I don't really think the numbers make any sense, but the Emiratis do drive like bats out of hell so anything is possible. There was a story in the paper recently wherein the government came to realize that their yearly amnesty of traffic tickets was actually a bad idea because the drivers knew that there was going to be an amnesty so they just drove all the faster. You rarely see police cars here, although heaven help you if you get pulled over, especially if you've been drinking. The Emirati authorities are not amused by drinking and driving and you will end up in jail immediately, which I actually support. Every infraction here is captured electronically and you don't find out about your tickets until you come in to renew your tags, and there are all sorts of stories about drivers who come in and discover that they owe thousands of dollars in fines. So, the adventure begins. The UAE will be the fourth foreign country where I've driven, following Canada, Oman and South Africa, and the first where I've acquired a new driver's license.