Road Safety Week is underway, and the number of deaths on Israeli roads since the beginning of the year is close to the 300 mark, the highest number in the last four years.
The campaign of the National Road Safety Authority (Harlevad), which accompanies the safety week, will deal with a national plan to reduce the speed of travel within the city to 30 km / h.
This, with the understanding that this is the way to reduce the number of accidents, as well as prevent the aggravation of minor accidents.
According to sources in the RALB, "For this to happen, it is not enough to change the law or replace the sign at the entrance to the street, it must come along with changing infrastructure, enforcement and publicity."
According to the RALBD data, from the beginning of 2021 to Saturday 299 people were killed on the roads, which is 19% more than in the corresponding period last year, and the highest number of deaths for the corresponding period since 2017. It should be noted that in 2020 302 people were killed.
It further shows that in 2021, the months of March-September were the deadliest months in the last four years.
Number of two-wheelers killed - 76 since the beginning of the year, the highest figure ever.
84 of those killed were pedestrians, and 77 were killed in accidents involving heavy vehicles.
10 of the dead are cyclists and 15 are electric cyclists and scooters.
The fear is that we will soon cross the threshold of 300 deaths, and that by the end of the year we will exceed the number of deaths from the past year.
Many ideas have come up in recent years about the way to stop the carnage on the roads: information, increased enforcement, committees in and outside the Knesset that approve plans, care for infrastructure - but the death toll remains high.
In November 2020, the government ordered the Ministry of Transport to submit a multi-year national plan to reduce casualties in road accidents within 120 days.
The plan, formulated at Ralavad, is based on the principles of the World Health Organization in 2017. According to the organization, a plan must be formulated that will be implemented by 2030, and its main purpose is to reduce at least half of the number of deaths.
The plan includes the reduction of speed through regulation or legislation;
Broad enforcement;
Improving infrastructure in Arab society - where there was an increase in casualties;
Rapid treatment of risk centers;
Integration of technologies and safety systems for vehicles;
Education for prevention and proper driving, with an emphasis on distractions, alcohol and drugs;
Increasing the perception of risk among young drivers and motorcycles, and more.
The fatal accident at Sha'ar HaGai, Photo: Yehonatan Shaul
The plan was submitted to the government at the end of the 120 days, in the last days of the transitional government - so it was not discussed at all.
Since then, it has been transferred to the Minister of Transportation, Merav Michaeli, who announced that a sum of NIS 1.8 billion from her office budget is being navigated to address road safety and risk areas.
The government is expected to discuss the issue next week, after the hearing was postponed from today.
"The struggle is a national goal in which everyone should take part," said (acting) Ralbe General Director Snir Seidel. Which prioritizes road users and takes into account population growth and travel, along with improved public transportation. "
Meanwhile, a memorial event for road victims will be held tomorrow.
On Tuesday, the issue of Road Safety Week will be discussed in the plenum and in the Knesset committees.
"The vehicle is a weapon, do not give in to children"
Uri and Aviel David, a father and eldest son, were killed on Road 232 near Sderot in December 2018 in a frontal accident with a shuttle vehicle.
"There is no driving culture in Israel," Malka David, who lost her husband and son in the terrible accident, told Israel Today.
"I think we lost it - especially with the young people, they do not understand the size of the responsibility they have, when they get on this weapon called a vehicle. In my son's case this is not the case. The findings also showed that he drove at the speed limit and without a phone," she adds. .
The late Sergeant Major Uri David, who was killed in an accident, served in the traffic police.
According to his widow, driving responsibility for him was the most important thing there was.
"My husband would not let them get on the wheel easily and would travel with them everywhere. Only a year after they had a license would he let them get on the wheel alone. He was the one who guarded the roads and it was in his blood and soul, as a traffic cop. In the end he went for it." Says Queen David.
David with photos of her son and husband, Photo: Liron Moldovan
"Although he did not drive, Aviel drove," says David, "I think the parents do not understand the responsibility of the drivers. 'It is better for the child to cry and not for you to cry.' I'm bad, but I do not give in to him easily. "
Malka David is an educator and believes that this is the only way to prevent the following disasters.
"The issue of parental supervision needs to be stepped up, driving lessons added, not necessarily with a driving instructor, but with a responsible parent or adult."
David also continues on the same line that her late husband would have taught the children.
"There are fears, there is no doubt that the fear exists within me, but I do not let it take over. I also do not want the children to be afraid to get in the car. They are allowed two passengers by law, but I do not allow getting in at all. "They did not give then and even today I do not allow, the children do not understand that it is a weapon," the mother adds.
Queen David was left alone with five children after the great disaster and she tells of good people and great faith that helped her get through the first period.
"Anyone who could help came and wrapped up in the first few months. When I was informed about it, I do not know how I did not shout and how I did not run wild. I felt shock and market. At the funeral they asked me if I had taken anything to relax. Apparently they had to end their life. I say "It's not over. Faith holds me and that's how I hold the house."
"Stop the bullying on the road"
This week marks the anniversary of the horrific accident in which eight members of the Atar family from the settlement of Psagot in Binyamin were killed.
In the accident, parents Shoshi and Yariv and the children Yaakov Israel (12), Ateret Tiferet (11), Ayala (9), Moriah (7.5), Yedid (5) and Abigail (3) were killed.
In the days before the memorial service, their family members will meet with the nephews' friends and reminisce.
Ariel Gross, Yariv's sister, who is leading the meetings, explains that this year the concept is in the "what's annoying" sign.
"We'll talk about their downside, the things we'd like to do with them, and also about things that would be annoying. When someone dies, only good things are always said about him. It makes him less human, less accessible."
On October 30, 2018, members of the Atar family went on a trip in the Ma'ale Bokek area of the Judean Desert.
They were supposed to meet there with Ariel and her family.
"We arrived a few minutes ahead of time," Ariel recalls, "usually I am late. We thought they arrived and did not see them. There was no reception and when they were not available we were not stressed. On Highway 90 ".
Gross and her family in the cemetery,
The investigation of the accident revealed that Lauren Ankry was driving the jeep and went into a detour before colliding with a vehicle of the Atar family.
As a result, the vehicle began to burn.
People tried to rescue those sitting inside but without success.
Within seconds the vehicle caught fire and all the family members were burned to death inside the vehicle.
The nurse says that although the driver expressed remorse in court, he did not accept responsibility for his actions for the family's feelings.
She herself faced for days after the accident a severe sense of guilt, as the one who organized the trip.
"At the funeral I apologized, but pretty soon I realized I was not responsible. There is one person who acted irresponsibly, and he is the one to blame," Ariel says that even three years later, the family is having a hard time containing the loss.
"Before the accident I had never seen my mother cry. Today she cries several times a day. I myself am still in denial. For me they went on a mission. But sometimes something cracks in me and I realize they are not."
Since the accident, Ariel and the driver of the car that Ankry overtook have been giving lectures together.
"This accident could have been avoided. Road and road conditions were good. Why was it so urgent for him to go around a detour?"
Ariel emphasizes that "it is not enough to apologize. To accept responsibility is to know what the consequences are. Lack of acceptance of responsibility causes non-deterrence."
Participated in the preparation of the article: Efrat Forsher and Ilya Yagurov