25 inspectors, without enforcement on the promenade: the danger of scooters and electric bicycles in Tel Aviv

Some 1,300 people were injured in scooter and electric bicycle accidents in 2021, but it is not only the riders who can be blamed - who are forced to choose whether to put themselves in danger on the road or stay on the sidewalk.

Just this week, Carmela, 70, died of a bicycle accident on the Tel Aviv promenade, but according to the municipality, the entire trail cannot be monitored.

Uri Sela

14/03/2022

Monday, March 14, 2022, 1:00 p.m.

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In the video: Enforcement operation against bicycle and electric scooter offenses in Tel Aviv (Photo: Police Spokeswoman)

1,268 scooter and electric bike riders and 96 pedestrians.

This is the number of people injured in accidents involving these tools last year, according to data from the Green Light Association - a jump of tens of percent from a year earlier.

The death of a pedestrian from an electric bicycle on the Tel Baruch promenade in Tel Aviv this week flooded the problem again, but the solution is complicated and does not seem to arrive in the near future.

The immediate blame falls on the riders, who often drive wildly and see traffic laws as a recommendation.

But even the obedient among them face a difficult choice between two options, each worse than the other: to put themselves in danger - or to endanger others.

If they choose to drive on the road, amidst the plethora of cars that overtake, beep and generally see them planted as a stranger and a nuisance on the track, they may become part of the dismal statistics of accident victims.

If they prefer to absorb a possible fine and get on the sidewalk, even extreme caution may not prevent them from hitting pedestrians.

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May become part of the dismal statistics of accident victims.

Tel Baruch Promenade, yesterday (Photo: Reuven Castro)

Even where a designated path has been paved, it may be too narrow.

Tel Baruch Promenade, yesterday (Photo: Reuven Castro)

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The bike path seems to be the obvious solution to the problem, but this is not always the case.

Beyond the fact that many of the streets do not have such a path, even where a designated lane has been paved it may be too narrow for the number of passers-by or adjacent to parked vehicles, which can not be expected when they will open the door.

The Tel Baruch promenade, where 70-year-old Carmela Rotsky was hit by an electric bicycle, hit the concrete floor and died, is a good example of this.

The bike paths and pedestrians are adjacent to each other without a separating space, with faded markings and only a dashed line between them, and can accommodate 4-3 pedestrians or two cyclists and scooters at the same time.

During peak hours the separation is blurred due to lack of space in and out - riders travel on footpaths and pedestrians enter the riders path, and the accident is just waiting to happen.

"The riders are traveling at excessive speed, do not stop at a crosswalk - and there is no supervision," said Linda, a resident of the nearby neighborhood.

"I can say that once out of five I walk here I see one accident or another."

The municipality does not object to the claim about the lack of supervision in the place, because it can not legally enforce bicycle and scooter offenses along the entire promenade in the city.

The promenade is legally defined as a plaza, similar to Habima Square and the port, and the current law does not allow inspectors to act in plazas against these offenses.

A bill recently submitted by MK Eitan Ginzburg (Blue and White), passed in a preliminary reading, seeks to close the loophole and give inspectors authority wherever it is. The bill will expand the limited basket of offenses that can currently be enforced, and will add to it, for example, offenses such as riding with headphones, using a cell phone while riding, riding without a helmet, riding another passenger, and traveling in the opposite direction for bicycle paths.

The victim of the phenomenon.

Rotsky (Photo: Official Website, Ichilov Spokeswoman)

"Exponential increase in accidents."

Tel Baruch Promenade, yesterday (Photo: Reuven Castro)

But the chaos did not end on the boardwalk.

Ibn Gvirol Street, for example, also contains a narrow bicycle lane without separating pedestrians, who enter and leave the path, and even get off the bus directly to it.

The railway works and the change of road that have characterized it in recent years have recently led to the closure of a section of the bike path along several streets.

The solution for riders is to switch to the opposite lane on the other side of the road, and even continue on the sidewalk even without it, zigzagging between pedestrians.

The trauma department at Ichilov Hospital in the city, to which Rotsky was evacuated, is well aware of the situation.

According to the director of the department, Dr. Dror Sofer, "there has been an exponential increase in accidents of up to 50 times in the last two or three years," which began about a decade ago. That it's not surprising, "Sofer explained." The riders drive in red and against the direction of traffic and do not wear helmets.

Buy a 12-year-old boy a scooter that reaches a speed of 60 km / h, and he wears his friends with headphones in his ears. "

A total of 25 inspectors are in charge of a variety of scooter and electric bicycle offenses in Tel Aviv, which are responsible for enforcing an area of ​​52 square kilometers. On the offenses of the 'Bicycle Law' - prohibited riding of bicycles and scooters on a sidewalk not for a designated path, riding motorcycles on sidewalks and more.

Of the total reports, approximately 3,700 reports have been submitted since the beginning of February 2022. "

"The municipality is aware of the phenomenon of wild riding."

Tel Baruch Promenade, yesterday (Photo: Reuven Castro)

In response to the latest case, they said that "the promenade in question has a clear sign and a clear separation mark between the pedestrian lane and the bicycle lane. "The municipality recently approached the government ministries, together with the 15th Forum, for additional enforcement powers that will allow it to enforce wild riding in violation of the law in these places as well."

We will add that we are aware of the wild riding phenomenon with the power tools and try to eradicate it with the tools at our disposal, including enforcement against cyclists and scooters, clearing public space and arranging sidewalks alongside light rail works and paving bike lanes separated from sidewalks and not pedestrians. The alarming increase in the number of road accidents involving two-wheeled electric vehicle users and the significant damage to pedestrians' sense of security, the mayor recently asked the Minister of Transport, Homeland Security, Justice and Home Secretary to extend enforcement powers to municipal inspectors. Effective enforcement of traffic offenses and taking care of the safety of pedestrians. ".

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