It seems that I am incapable of owning any form of motor transport.

Our car (RIP) always seemed to be clamped, towed, or ticketed, and now my scooter's even worse; so far this year it's been beaten, stolen, dismantled and torched (who knew beat-the-scoot was the new neighbourhood game?).

I seem to spend more time on the crimes hotline than I do on the road.

Which is why, when someone mentioned that Streetcar - the brilliant pay-as-you go car rental - was now in my neighbourhood, I immediately knew this was going to inject a bit of Zen into my DVLA dramas.

Here's the deal. For £4.95 per hour (basically a tube pass), you can rent a car (automatic or manual) in London - for as long as you want, anytime you want.

Even getting started is relatively painless: Apply for a smartcard (it's free and you only have to fill out a form once), find a car in your neighbourhood (they are now parked all over London), book a time to pick it up (you can do this 24/7), locate your VW (so it's not a Porsche, but what do you care; you don't own it!), use your smartcard to get into the car and, voila, you're on your way.

And the best part is, when you're done, you give it back for someone else to deal with what happens next, which makes £4.95 seem pretty damn cheap.