We all understand that using a smartphone while driving can endanger our lives on the road. A second of inattention - and we may find ourselves in a car accident. Still, a report obtained by Israel Hayom shows that in 2022, tens of thousands of fines were handed out to drivers who took their eyes off the road and used their mobile phones.
Ranking of reports by city in 2020-2022, photo: none
The data shows that during 2022, every three and a quarter minutes or so, a report is issued to the driver for cellphone use. In fact, no fewer than 162,8 tickets have been issued to such drivers. This is an 2021% decrease compared to 175, when 053,<> such fines were issued. However, it is believed that the reason for this is due to a shortage of police officers and not due to a decrease in traffic offenses.
In total, some 492,1 such reports have been registered in the past three years. If you take into account that a standard report on cellphone use reaches NIS 000,<>, then about half a billion shekels entered the state coffers.
Where do the police supervise us more and where less?
A breakdown of the reports shows that Jerusalem is at the top with 9,476 fines for using phones in 2022. However, this is a significant decline compared to the previous two years.
In 2021, 15,574 reports were registered in the capital and in 2020 – 13,375.Tel Aviv-Yafo is in second place with 6,301 reports. In the economic center of the Dan region, which suffers from heavy traffic congestion, this is actually an increase compared to previous years, with 5,443 reports in 2021 and only 3,592 in 2020. Rishon LeZion is in third place, with 3,926 reports, followed by Rehovot (1,451) and Raanana (1,412).
When we dive into the data, it emerges that in some small localities, more reports are distributed than in larger cities. For example, in Even Yehuda, with its 15,200 residents, more reports were registered than in Holon, which has about 1,186 residents – 945,57 fines versus 215, respectively. In addition, Yavne (about 25,62 residents) recorded more reports than Be'er Sheva (about 692,500 residents). Similarly, Kafr Qasim (about <>,<> residents) received more reports than Givatayim (about <>,<> residents) – a total of <> fines compared to <>.
We all understand that using a smartphone while driving can endanger our lives on the road, Photo: AFP
As expected, the distribution of reports by hour of the day shows that at 10 a.m. – rush hour on the roads – the most reports were recorded during the day. In addition, between 11-8 o'clock there is an increase in the number of tickets for drivers who use the phone.
When morning traffic congestion decreases – so does the number of fines – only towards the afternoon, 16:00-14:00, is there an increase again. Most tickets are issued to drivers on intercity roads: more than 100,<> tickets have been registered for drivers on them.
However, 2022 saw a decline of around 4 per cent (4,000 tickets) for drivers on intercity roads compared to 2021. A total of 2021,106 tickets were registered in 476, compared with 102,205 in 2022.Moreover, a segmentation of the data shows that drivers from the Arab sector receive twice as many fines for using their phones. 42% of all such reports were registered for drivers from Arab society – twice their share of the population.
A disturbing observation
What about the truck drivers? An observational study conducted in France found that truck drivers used their mobile phones on average 9% of the time traveled. The results of the observation were published by the European Road Safety Council (ETSC) in October 2022.
The study was carried out by the independent research agency Cerema on behalf of the Association of French Intercity Road Companies (ASFA), and included the installation of internal and external cameras on taxis and trucks. Even though the drivers were aware that they were being recorded at all times, many were still using their cell phones while driving. The study found that drivers used their mobile phones ten times an hour for an average of 32 seconds. Each time, they kept their eyes out of the way for an average of 2.4 seconds.
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During the study, extreme cases were also observed in which the driver did not observe the road for 7 seconds, during which the vehicle travels a distance of 175-60 meters, at a speed of 90 km/h. Against the backdrop of disturbing data, the ASFA warned that distraction in driving has become broader since the outbreak of the COVID-<> pandemic.
Where are the policemen?
"Using a cell phone while driving is a dangerous activity," says Or Yarok CEO Adv. Yaniv Yaakov. "When a driver is busy on the phone, he is distracted and he is not focused on what is happening on the road. One of the ways to combat the texting drivers is to increase the police presence on the roads and create a deterrent atmosphere, which will make drivers understand that if they use their phones while driving, the chances of being caught and punished are very high."
Adv. Yaakov also reinforces the assessment that the decrease in the number of fines stems from a limited order of force in the Israel Police: "The traffic police are short of 200 patrol cars and hundreds of police officers, and the result is a decrease in the number of tickets in 2022. This is not the way to combat the texting drivers. This is not the way to fight road accidents. The minister of national security must direct money to strengthen the traffic police and add hundreds of patrol cars and hundreds of police officers to the roads. Only a massive police presence will lead to a significant reduction in drivers who endanger the lives of us all."
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