The Kuwaitis manage to get into some really inventive wrecks while they're driving. Since I've been here, I've observed two cars engulfed in flames in unrelated accidents, and seen the burnt hulk of another. There was a car that appeared to have taken a monstrous uppercut to the right side of its engine block on the side of the road for a while, and there's currently one lying on its roof on the shoulder, skid marks indicating that it slid at least 50 feet that way. And of course there was the house that someone crashed under an overpass; I hear they've taken away Dorothy's license now, though, so that's one problem taken care of.

These wrecks can't just all be happening by accident, though. There are too many, and it seems like none of them are normal. My theory is that there's a Kuwaiti rating system; the first responders to any accident include a team of judges, who rate the crash on categories like destruction, distance traveled on non-wheeled areas of the car, inventiveness and style in execution. I think you lose points for actual bodily harm, as people rarely seem to be hurt in these crashes; it makes sense, as otherwise you'd have to keep recruiting new participants for the sport.

Take the upside-down car, for example. Judging by the scrapes and debris pattern, this was a one-vehicle accident. The driver appears to have swerved into the jersey wall hard enough to have sent the car's rear bumper entirely over its head, smashing it onto its roof while maintaining the forward momentum. The car then skidded down the road, seemingly entirely on the shoulder, and came to rest out of traffic. This obviously scored very highly in the distance category, but somewhat lower in the inventiveness; I saw a taxi on its roof the other day, too, so this is something of a recycled trick. I'm curious how the driver managed the initial smash into the wall; perhaps there was an assist from another vehicle? If so, does he get some of the points, or was it just a courtesy move?

Perhaps there's a team category. That would explain the strange new accident I saw today; a truck was lying on the side of the road, flipped onto its side, with its underbelly facing traffic. Despite the fact that this vehicle was easily eight to ten feet off the road, there was a sedan smashed into it, nuzzled in like a piglet trying to nurse. There was no reason for anyone to be driving there unless they were just trying to add to the sculpture. I suppose there are other possible explanations, but the only ones I can come up with get increasingly more bizarre: perhaps they saw a small fire burning and tried to put it out with their bumper. Maybe the impact of the crash magnetized the truck's undercarriage. The sedan driver could have been stopping to help, only to realize too late that his brakes were out.

I wonder if I can get in on the judging of these. I bet if I make up some scorecards and look like I belong, no one will question me. I just hope I pick the right scale; if I hold up a 9 and it turns out they're on a 100 point system, I could have some very angry drivers after me. On the other hand, they'll've just lost their mode of transportation, so I should be able to ditch them pretty easily. It's worth the risk, I think.

Mood of the Moment: cheerful
Auditory Hallucination: Gary Numan -- Cars