Still Life with Robin: Waiting for Supercar

by Peggy Robin

I just drove my car home from its 15,000 mile maintenance appointment. The car is a 2008 Hyundai Accent that we got early in 2007, so we’ve had it now for close to four years. Do the math and you’ll see that we put less than 4,000 miles per year on the car. We're not big on driving.

The thing is, we own two cars. The other one is a Toyota Camry that we bought at the end of 2005. It has a mere 6,500 miles on it, which works out to about 1,300 miles per year. Yes, you read that right. So now you are thinking, “Why do these people even need two cars?” And the answer is, we don’t … and we know it. The only thing stopping us from getting rid of one car and keeping the other is that we can’t agree on which one should go and which should stay.

My husband Bill favors the Camry. It’s got a much better safety rating than the Hyundai and it has a more solid feel to it. He likes driving it better than the Hyundai, which he thinks feels tinny and insubstantial. But then he practically never drives. He takes public transportation a lot. I tend to do most of the driving that has to be done for errands and short trips. And I have conceived an admittedly irrational dislike of the Camry. I’m not sure I can justify it. It’s mainly based on a single design flaw: The side mirrors do not fold in. I’m not sure why a car manufactured after this feature had become standard on so many other models would have fixed mirrors, but that’s the way it is. I don’t think I would have even agreed to drive the car off the lot on that first day had I realized that the mirrors were like that.

I guess my reaction stems from all those times in my years of car ownership when my car’s side mirror was smacked while it was innocently parked, minding its own business. The streets in Cleveland Park are narrow with cars parked on both sides, but still cars often fly by, and so the risk to the unfolded side mirror never goes away. Only once have I had a driver stop and tell me that he broke my mirror. (That was a city trash truck driver, and although he helpfully left me with a sheet of instructions for filing a claim against the city, and I went through every step as specified, including getting three estimates for repair, it still took about eighteen months to collect the payment for the damage.)

Getaround Car Share: Better Than Zipcar?

Zipcar is an amazingly innovative and useful car rental/sharing service; even more so now that there are smartphone apps that let you reserve and unlock the car. But has Zipcar met its match with Getaround, a new car sharing service?

Getaround is a peer-to-peer car sharing service that lets you rent out your car when you're not using it. Rather than having your car accumulate dust, you can turn it into a money-making vehicle by signing up with Getaround. And if you're looking for a car, with Getaround you might find one nearby.

Getaround covers all the bases: Insurance, problems with damaged cars, speeding tickets -- they've figured out everything. (Your insurance won't go up, for example; your car is covered under Getaround's master policy while it's being used.)  You find a Getaround car through their iPhone app or via Getaround's website. Getaround provides recommended rental rates, but you're free to choose your own rental fee. The minimum age for renting a Getaround peer shared car is 20.

Getaround is currently in beta testing in California, but if enough Washington area people sign up they may open up shop here, too. You can register here.

DC DMV Sending Out Incorrect Car Registration Suspension Notices

Update: Jordan commenting below points us to the DMV's website, which says that if you received that notice dated 10/11/10, you can ignore it. To verify that your vehicle is registered enter your license plane number here.

Three members of the Cleveland Park Listserv reported yesterday evening that they received letters from the DC Department of Motor Vehicles stating that their car's registration has been suspended because of unverified insurance information. In addition, these letters said that the a warning letter, sent 30 days before, had been ignored. In our experience when two listserv members report exactly the same thing on the same day, that's the proverbial canary in a coal mine: Something appears to be wrong at the DMV.

The advice from the DMV (one list member called) is to fax a letter of explanation along with a copy of the DMV letter and proof of insurance (which could be your insurance card) to 202-673-9908. The DMV will send a "clearance letter" to you.

Here are excerpts from these two messages:

I just came home to a letter from the D.C. DMV Insurance Services stating that my car registration has been suspended as of 10/10 (today is 10/19) due to my not having sufficiently verified my insurance information, and apparently ignoring a warning letter 30 days ago.

I have been insured the entire time and am certain that I never received such a letter. According to this letter, I will have to pay a $150 fee plus a $98 reinstatement fee, and I must go down to the DMV to do so. Not to mention that I will apparently receive up to a $300 fine and 30 days in jail for driving an "unregistered" vehicle! This is outrageous, as I am insured by a reputable insurer, have been for years, and never received a first notice.

 ---

I, too, got the identical letter today, stating that my registration was suspended as of 10/10, because I have not "sufficiently verified your insurance information and you have not paid the applicable fine for any lapse in your insurance coverage." It also says that I received a pending suspension notice 30 days ago.

I received no notice, my USAA insurance has been in place for years, and is currently paid up and effective to January 21, 2011. 

DC's Pedestrian Laws: Drivers Pay Attention

This summary of the District of Columbia's pedestrian laws (below) was published on the Palisades listserv by Erik Gaull.  It's the best and clearest explanation of what obligations drivers have to pedestrians, and vice versa.

If you're interested in knowing what changes are coming to enhance pedestrian safety, you can read the DC Department of Transportation's pedestrian safety plan. Connecticut Avenue in Northwest DC has its own pedestrian safety organization, Connecticut Avenue Pedestrian Action, which has several excellent safety initiatives.

Venting Road Rage

That SUV cuts you off on the way to BWI. What do you do? Chances are that the driver won't see your middle finger and is driving so fast that laying on the horn will only serve as example of how the Doppler effect works. There's no satisfaction there.

That's where Fail Driver comes in. Fail Driver lets you report idiot drivers, with photos and license plate information if you want. Fail Driver has a iPhone app, so you don't have to wait until you're home to report that driver who tailgated you all the way from Gaithersburg: You can report the driver while you're still steaming (assuming you're the passenger.)  If you're just curious about where bad drivers have been spotted, but don't want to participate, you can view Fail Driver's map.

The Eternal Illegally Parked Car

There's an illegally parked car in Georgetown that simply won't go. The story behind this car gives some insight into why illegally parked cars sometimes are just unmovable objects. This story was reported on the Georgetown listserv.

The truck has now been parked in front of our house, illegally, for at least 7 days. Unresolved...

Last Sunday we noticed a truck (expired Maryland license plates) was parked in front of our house at 1685 34th Street, NW, between R Street and Reservoir Road (not sure if it was there earlier on the weekend or not). On Wednesday it was still there. Here were my steps to try to get someone to attend to it.

Wednesday, 29 September: Phoned 2nd precinct asking how to report an illegally parked truck in front of my house. The officer (did not ask his name, unfortunately) told me they did not deal with illegally parked cars and I'd have to call DMV. He gave me the telephone number at DMV.

How to Win the Bedbug War

There's a simple tip for thwarting bedbugs that can save you from untold misery. Bedbugs are proliferating: And when you get them, getting rid of them is difficult and expensive. It's so much better to prevent a bedbug infestation than to deal with one.

Leave your luggage in a car in the sun after a trip. Bedbugs can't survive summer's baking hot car temperatures. (It's only September and we'll have enough warm days for this before autumn takes hold.) The trunk won't do the trick: You want to let the greenhouse effect work its magic on bedbugs, which have a hard time surviving temperatures above 120 degrees, a temperature that the interior of a car can easily reach in the summer. (That temperature is well beyond the melting point of M&M's, so before you do this, remove candy, medicines, lotions, shaving cream, souvenirs, and other objects that won't withstand the heat.)

Dangerous Driver on the Loose in NW DC

Watch out for this dangerous driver who was reported on the Chevy Chase listserv. The best advice when it comes to dangerous drivers is to keep away:  Slow down, let them get to where they want to go (hoping that they make it alive), and be glad that they're no longer a threat to you.

Sidewalks versus Cars

One of the oddest debates going on in the Cleveland Park neighborhood of Washington, DC is whether or not a service lane should be paved and turned into a sidewalk.

A few decades ago a wide, boulevard-like sidewalk on the east side of Connecticut Avenue between Macomb and Ordway Streets was carved up and turned into a service lane for driving and parking.  Perhaps a good idea at the time, but in the intervening years, returning the service lane to a sidewalk has become a better idea.

There are lots of reasons why people say we continue to need a service/parking lane.  "How will I drop off my vacuum cleaner to be repaired?" is one common refrain that appears on the Cleveland Park Listserv, which recently had a hefty debate about the service lane.  How often do people have to have their vacuum cleaners repaired.? Oh, never mind.  To some people that's all the reason they need to insist that the service lane stay.