Jude
08-20-2002, 11:22 AM
Traffic Accidents: A National Security Issue
by Ariel Natan Pasko
Boom! 1 Arad teen killed and 3 injured, 2 moderately (July 13th). Boom! An 82-year-old man from Haifa and a 50-year-old man near Beit Yanai junction were killed in two separate incidents (July 14th). Boom! 25 Children injured in their bus, during summer camp adventure (July 16th). Boom! In two separate incidents (July 18th), two families from Kiryat Shmona were wiped out. In the first, a 28-year-old man, his 27-year-old wife and their 18-month-old son were killed. In the second, a 50-year-old mother and her 13-year-old daughter were killed. The 53-year-old father was seriously injured. The 5 other children left behind are asking “Why?”
No, I’m not talking about the carnage of terror attacks, but the horrendous evil of traffic accidents. We should be outraged, and we should demand more from our government, and we should do all we can to put an end to this mass murder.
According to my handy dictionary, the definition of ‘secure’ includes: 1. free from fear or danger; safe; 2. free from care or worry; 3. in safe keeping. The definition of ‘security’ includes: 1. state or quality of being secure; 2. protection; defense; 3. measures taken to prevent burglary, theft, sabotage, etc (i.e. damage to life, limb, and property). With the level of slaughter in the streets, road safety has become an Israeli national security issue.
The parents of those 25 youngsters probably thought they were in safe keeping, when they sent them out for a summer trip. The 82-year-old man killed while crossing the street probably was free of fear and worry just moments before his end. The 50-year-old bicyclist probably felt protected, but from all these incidents we come away wiser. By now, Israelis should be fearful of traveling on the roads, but not from terror attacks, which have killed over 500 and injured over 4,000 in 21 months of warfare, rather they should feel endangered because of the over 500 killed and over 34,000 injured (including over 2300 seriously) from traffic accidents, in just the last 11 months. Heck, who needs a war with the ‘Palestinians’, we’re killing each other!
Then there’s the issue of “protection”, “defense”, and “measures taken to prevent damage to life, limb, and property”. National security is about protecting the lives and property of the citizens of the country. Governments rightfully spend billions on national defense. Israel spends over 40 billion shekels on defense each year, yet the National Road Safety Council (NRSC) only receives about 200 million shekels. That’s less than one half of 1% of what’s spent on defense. Yet, the traffic massacre on the roads is happening at twice the rate as the Oslo War, with over 8 times the injuries. That includes lost family members, disabled friends, disrupted lives, endless therapy, lost work hours, property damage and all the other consequences we protest so strongly against regarding the Oslo War.
The Knesset Committee of Inquiry into Traffic Accidents was informed on June 17th about the sharp rise of traffic fatalities in May (60%), and since the beginning of the year (7.5%). MK Nahum Langenthal (committee chairman) reminded the committee, that the number of casualties dropped in 1998, and attributed it to increased funding for awareness and safety programs. But not all politicians seem to be equally disturbed by the ‘Road Security’ problem. Ha’aretz newspaper reported (July 18th), that the Ministerial Committee for Road Safety had its first meeting in 7 months. By law it is supposed to meet every 3 months. Only one minister, Transportation Minister Ephraim Sneh, showed up. The eight other ministers (including Finance, Internal Security, Justice and Education) sent ministry officials, who don’t have voting rights. Transportation Ministry officials expressed regret at the lack of interest, especially since traffic deaths have grown this year. The committee recommended increasing the NRSC budget from 200 to 250 million shekels. That’s a meager sum when you consider that more people are being killed and injured, and more damage is being done to property and the economy, than from the Oslo War. It’s an Israeli national security issue of the first order and they’re barely giving handouts.
I don’t want to get into all the possible recommendations I could make, but I want to point out one problem. Recently, the point system (tracking serious violations) for a driver was changed. Beginning October 1st, a driver will be allowed ‘only’ 36 points, that’s about 10 serious violations in a four year period, before his license is suspended for 3 months. I want to tell you how lenient and foolish that is. Take a typical state in the United States, Illinois for example, a driver is allowed two moving violations in a one year period. With a third violation, the driver’s license is suspended, for a minimum of three months (time varies according to the seriousness of the offenses - it could be up to a year). Imagine, three times; that is, running a stop sign, making a right hand turn where it is not allowed and going a little over the speed limit. Driving under the influence is an automatic one year suspension. Three reckless driving tickets within a one year period also brings a one year suspension. Now that’s incentive to be careful!
On the other hand, here in Israel you can recklessly speed and get caught a few times over 2-3 years, run red lights, dangerously pass on a curve, and generally endanger everyone’s welfare for up to four years, and even then you only get a three month suspension. No wonder there are so many accidents in Israel; there are virtually no consequences to reckless behavior.
“There should be a law about that…” is a famous complaint. Well, truth be told, Israel has laws, but the real problem is enforcement. Whenever you turn around, wherever you look, people are doing what they want. “It’s my right, it’s a democracy,” they tell you. Uneven, or worse, enforcement is the main problem in Israel. When a person has a great likelihood of getting caught, people are more careful not to break the law.
Fourteen years ago, I recommended to our current President, then Minister of Transportation, Moshe Katzav, that the Israeli police develop a separate traffic unit. Well, eventually they did, but too often they are still used for terror alerts and other missions. Israel needs a large ‘consistent’ traffic police that drivers can count on. Strong, consistent enforcement will keep people from taking risks. Stiff penalties will make the costs too high. Realistic fear of losing a driver’s license works.
In a war, you have to use all means at your disposal. The war against road carnage is such a war. Traffic accidents are an Israeli national security issue.
by Ariel Natan Pasko
Boom! 1 Arad teen killed and 3 injured, 2 moderately (July 13th). Boom! An 82-year-old man from Haifa and a 50-year-old man near Beit Yanai junction were killed in two separate incidents (July 14th). Boom! 25 Children injured in their bus, during summer camp adventure (July 16th). Boom! In two separate incidents (July 18th), two families from Kiryat Shmona were wiped out. In the first, a 28-year-old man, his 27-year-old wife and their 18-month-old son were killed. In the second, a 50-year-old mother and her 13-year-old daughter were killed. The 53-year-old father was seriously injured. The 5 other children left behind are asking “Why?”
No, I’m not talking about the carnage of terror attacks, but the horrendous evil of traffic accidents. We should be outraged, and we should demand more from our government, and we should do all we can to put an end to this mass murder.
According to my handy dictionary, the definition of ‘secure’ includes: 1. free from fear or danger; safe; 2. free from care or worry; 3. in safe keeping. The definition of ‘security’ includes: 1. state or quality of being secure; 2. protection; defense; 3. measures taken to prevent burglary, theft, sabotage, etc (i.e. damage to life, limb, and property). With the level of slaughter in the streets, road safety has become an Israeli national security issue.
The parents of those 25 youngsters probably thought they were in safe keeping, when they sent them out for a summer trip. The 82-year-old man killed while crossing the street probably was free of fear and worry just moments before his end. The 50-year-old bicyclist probably felt protected, but from all these incidents we come away wiser. By now, Israelis should be fearful of traveling on the roads, but not from terror attacks, which have killed over 500 and injured over 4,000 in 21 months of warfare, rather they should feel endangered because of the over 500 killed and over 34,000 injured (including over 2300 seriously) from traffic accidents, in just the last 11 months. Heck, who needs a war with the ‘Palestinians’, we’re killing each other!
Then there’s the issue of “protection”, “defense”, and “measures taken to prevent damage to life, limb, and property”. National security is about protecting the lives and property of the citizens of the country. Governments rightfully spend billions on national defense. Israel spends over 40 billion shekels on defense each year, yet the National Road Safety Council (NRSC) only receives about 200 million shekels. That’s less than one half of 1% of what’s spent on defense. Yet, the traffic massacre on the roads is happening at twice the rate as the Oslo War, with over 8 times the injuries. That includes lost family members, disabled friends, disrupted lives, endless therapy, lost work hours, property damage and all the other consequences we protest so strongly against regarding the Oslo War.
The Knesset Committee of Inquiry into Traffic Accidents was informed on June 17th about the sharp rise of traffic fatalities in May (60%), and since the beginning of the year (7.5%). MK Nahum Langenthal (committee chairman) reminded the committee, that the number of casualties dropped in 1998, and attributed it to increased funding for awareness and safety programs. But not all politicians seem to be equally disturbed by the ‘Road Security’ problem. Ha’aretz newspaper reported (July 18th), that the Ministerial Committee for Road Safety had its first meeting in 7 months. By law it is supposed to meet every 3 months. Only one minister, Transportation Minister Ephraim Sneh, showed up. The eight other ministers (including Finance, Internal Security, Justice and Education) sent ministry officials, who don’t have voting rights. Transportation Ministry officials expressed regret at the lack of interest, especially since traffic deaths have grown this year. The committee recommended increasing the NRSC budget from 200 to 250 million shekels. That’s a meager sum when you consider that more people are being killed and injured, and more damage is being done to property and the economy, than from the Oslo War. It’s an Israeli national security issue of the first order and they’re barely giving handouts.
I don’t want to get into all the possible recommendations I could make, but I want to point out one problem. Recently, the point system (tracking serious violations) for a driver was changed. Beginning October 1st, a driver will be allowed ‘only’ 36 points, that’s about 10 serious violations in a four year period, before his license is suspended for 3 months. I want to tell you how lenient and foolish that is. Take a typical state in the United States, Illinois for example, a driver is allowed two moving violations in a one year period. With a third violation, the driver’s license is suspended, for a minimum of three months (time varies according to the seriousness of the offenses - it could be up to a year). Imagine, three times; that is, running a stop sign, making a right hand turn where it is not allowed and going a little over the speed limit. Driving under the influence is an automatic one year suspension. Three reckless driving tickets within a one year period also brings a one year suspension. Now that’s incentive to be careful!
On the other hand, here in Israel you can recklessly speed and get caught a few times over 2-3 years, run red lights, dangerously pass on a curve, and generally endanger everyone’s welfare for up to four years, and even then you only get a three month suspension. No wonder there are so many accidents in Israel; there are virtually no consequences to reckless behavior.
“There should be a law about that…” is a famous complaint. Well, truth be told, Israel has laws, but the real problem is enforcement. Whenever you turn around, wherever you look, people are doing what they want. “It’s my right, it’s a democracy,” they tell you. Uneven, or worse, enforcement is the main problem in Israel. When a person has a great likelihood of getting caught, people are more careful not to break the law.
Fourteen years ago, I recommended to our current President, then Minister of Transportation, Moshe Katzav, that the Israeli police develop a separate traffic unit. Well, eventually they did, but too often they are still used for terror alerts and other missions. Israel needs a large ‘consistent’ traffic police that drivers can count on. Strong, consistent enforcement will keep people from taking risks. Stiff penalties will make the costs too high. Realistic fear of losing a driver’s license works.
In a war, you have to use all means at your disposal. The war against road carnage is such a war. Traffic accidents are an Israeli national security issue.