The Knesset subcommittee on road safety met Tuesday to discuss the enforcement of traffic laws through speed cameras and the 'Guardians of the Road' program.
Subcommittee chairperson MK Yaakov Asher (United Torah Judaism) opened the meeting and said that the issue of traffic accidents will not be dropped from the committee's agenda "until we are able to decrease the number of fatalities on the road as much as possible."
He referred to the talk in recent days of lowering taxes, against the backdrop of the purchase of Israeli car technology firm Mobileye by US computer chip giant Intel. He called on the government to focus first and foremost on preventing deaths on Israeli roads. "I call on the Minister of Finance to allocate a substantial amount for additional mobility and electronic enforcement measures before cutting taxes."
Doron Yedid, the head the traffic division of the Israeli police, said that the Public Security Minister had kept his word to double the number of units, and noted that 228 units currently operate in the field, of which 70 are operated by volunteers.
He also noted that enforcement was up 47% over the previous year, and that enforcement against the use of cell phones while driving was up 90%.
"We are focused on life-threatening offenses and bullying. For us, the meeting between the cop and the citizen is the best deterrent, but changing the driving culture takes a little more than three months," he said.
He said that the traffic police employed speed cameras alongside approximately one third of its manpower, and that there had consequently been a drop of 4% in speeding violations.