By Tomer Hadar : Greatest cause of traffic accidents? Police don't know
Talkback
Title: Infrastructure Greatest Cause of Accidents Name: Yaela Katz City: Tel Aviv State: Israel
The laws being violated - ignoring a traffic light, deviating from a lane, and tailgating - are sadly easy to understand in light of the backwards road infrastructure through much of the country. Lights are not timed according to traffic conditions, police do not inforce no-parking and no-waiting zones, and in many cases, a left lane becomes a left-turn only lane without warning - forcing drivers to make dangerous right-hand merges in heavy traffic. On some streets (e.g. Ben-Gurion in Ramat Gan) it is impossible to drive the full length of the road *without* deviating from a lane in order to avoid hitting parked cars on the right, or to move out of turn-only lanes on the left. Israel`s accident rate could be reduced by some simple infrastructure investments : 1) Install traffic sensors, and time lights accordingly. 2) Enforce no-parking and no-waiting zones on crowded streets. 3) Accomodate left-turn lanes by merging in lanes to the right. We need more action, not more stats.