Following a particularly lethal week last week in which 16 people were killed, at least four people have already been killed this week. Among them were a husband-and-wife couple from Eilat, who left four children and four grandchildren; they were killed when a truck rammed into their car as it was stopped alongside the Dimona-Be'er Sheva highway. On Friday night, twin brothers just a week short of their 10th birthday were killed when their mother, who was driving, inexplicably crashed into a parked truck near Ashkelon. Corneas from the victims were transplanted into two Israelis in their 20's; at least one of the recipients was reported to now be able to see.
Though the number of fatalities dropped more than 13% in 2003 (from 548 in 2002 to 486 in 2003), the rate this year is up sharply. The number of car accident fatalities this year now stands at 234 - 3.5% higher even than 2002, and almost 17% higher than last year.
Shlomo Yosefberg, ex-chairman of the Drivers' Teachers Council and presently the director of a center providing services for driving teachers and students, spoke with Arutz-7 last night about the crisis on the roads: "I see this problem as basically one of education - not only education as to how to drive, but early childhood education. There must be a basic education for patience, tolerance, responsibility, courtesy, caution, self-discipline, etc."
Yosefberg also has a suggestion on what some might view as a more practical level: cooperation between insurance agencies and the police: "The current situation is that if there's an accident with no injuries, it is not even reported to the police - even though someone probably violated a traffic law. We have suggested that information on every accident reported to the insurance company be shared directly with the police as well, and then if someone is seen to be involved in ten accidents in a year, the police can investigate. But this proposal of ours - the most professional of organizations involved with driving - was not accepted."
Yosefberg also advised drivers to report all physical problems on the roads - "potholes, worn out markings, roadwork without sufficient warning, etc." - to the police or local authorities. He concluded that if every driver would act courteously to others on the road, "we'll all return home safely."
Though the number of fatalities dropped more than 13% in 2003 (from 548 in 2002 to 486 in 2003), the rate this year is up sharply. The number of car accident fatalities this year now stands at 234 - 3.5% higher even than 2002, and almost 17% higher than last year.
Shlomo Yosefberg, ex-chairman of the Drivers' Teachers Council and presently the director of a center providing services for driving teachers and students, spoke with Arutz-7 last night about the crisis on the roads: "I see this problem as basically one of education - not only education as to how to drive, but early childhood education. There must be a basic education for patience, tolerance, responsibility, courtesy, caution, self-discipline, etc."
Yosefberg also has a suggestion on what some might view as a more practical level: cooperation between insurance agencies and the police: "The current situation is that if there's an accident with no injuries, it is not even reported to the police - even though someone probably violated a traffic law. We have suggested that information on every accident reported to the insurance company be shared directly with the police as well, and then if someone is seen to be involved in ten accidents in a year, the police can investigate. But this proposal of ours - the most professional of organizations involved with driving - was not accepted."
Yosefberg also advised drivers to report all physical problems on the roads - "potholes, worn out markings, roadwork without sufficient warning, etc." - to the police or local authorities. He concluded that if every driver would act courteously to others on the road, "we'll all return home safely."