Cars, Motorcycles and Other Things I Had Not Noticed

Apparently, I have been blatantly unaware of really important things here, like cars and motorcycles. This has been pointed out to me a few times in the last two weeks, and I have been the beneficiary of many, many learned discussions about the topic. I would say I am a quasi-expert now… all thanks to my dear husband. (How could I have been so neglectful!) So, in order to continue documenting what matters (or at least what matters to Rafi), I shall redress the damage.

Truth is, there are lots of motorcycles on the road and on sidewalks (more on this later), and motor scooters in particular are very popular. But the most popular motor scooter model isn't the Vespa, which is probably the best known brand. The winner here in Israel is the SYM Joyrider (in case your life to this point has been as woefully uniformed as mine, here is a link to their website). SYM, I am told, is a Taiwanese brand. The Joyrider comes in many size engines, and the 125 and the 250 cc's seem like the most popular here.   

Israelis bikers like to weave in and out of traffic, pretty recklessly (said he, who sold his Kawasaki 1500 cc’s many years ago), taking a lot of chances and violating the traffic rules they must have (?) learned in driving school. Having said that (pooh, pooh, pooh), we haven't witnessed an accident yet. Israelis also like to park their bikes wherever they can, which mostly means on the sidewalk (they occasionally drive on the sidewalk too). 

Sidewalk parking example

Now, onto to cars. 

Compared to North America, cars here are small, and so are the parking spots, and maybe even the highway lanes (not sure about that; people look at us weird when we ask them). Most cars here are hatchbacks. One sees very few large and/or expensive foreign cars, such as a Mercedes S Class or BMWs. Cars are of course very expensive. Regular cars carry a purchase tax of an unbelievable 83%. The average cost of a vehicle here is about $35,055. We stopped at a few dealership to look around today (I am being a good wife) and the prices were shocking.

Posted price for BMW 320i: about $100,000 - more than double than at home

I learned recently that this year, Israel will be the first country in the world to begin to end its addiction to oil. They will start replacing gas cars on a mass scale with electric cars that are cheaper, more convenient, and no less powerful – all with no tailpipe. (The same solution, from a company called Better Place, will be implemented in Denmark, and soon in Australia, which will demonstrate that it can also work in big countries.) And while here there is still controversy on whether or not this will work out (it is Israel after all, so controversy is a theme), it is very exciting to see it come to fruition.

So, in a move designed to jump-start the adoption of hybrid and electric vehicles, the treasury now offers tax benefits to buyers who purchase these vehicles. Plug-in hybrid vehicles, which use rechargeable batteries and can be plugged into external electric sources, will be taxed 20% in 2013 but the tax rate for these vehicles will increase annually until 2017, at which time they will be fully taxed.

Wow.

The driving, in spite about all that you hear about it, we have found to be not as bad as expected. The Israeli driver has a few very bad habits, such as too-frequent honking and tailgating. Speed limits aren't posted as often on the highways as they are back home, and are mostly 80 and 90 km per hour on highways and 100 km/hour on freeways. This makes for sluggish driving. Rafi, who did all the driving on our trip to the Galil (which I will eventually blog about) tells me that it is just as sluggish as at home. We didn't see a lot of police on the road either.  

Traffic in the city is heavy but when it comes to driving I have seen worse in other countries, such as Italy and Greece.

And now, bicycles. 

People love their bicycles here. The weather is good and the city is pretty flat, so the perfect combo for riding. There are lots of bikers on the road, weaving in and out of traffic. You can rent a green coloured bicycle in designated spots and can ride it for a nominal cost for 30 minutes and then drop the bike off at another station. These are very popular and the station right outside my apartment building is often out of bikes.

Rent by the 30-minute interval

What throws me off all the time are the bicycle lanes on the sidewalk. Bicyclists and electric scooter riders -- and sometimes even motorcyclists -- speed along beside pedestrians so if you turn around while strolling,  not realizing you are stepping onto a bike lane, you could get hurt badly.

OK, I think I have covered enough under "transportation" -- and I never got around updating our trip to the Judean Hills. 

Mañana.