Several bills have been raised in the Knesset lately that address a national scourge: traffic accidents. One would ban drivers from sending SMS text messages from their cellphones while at the wheel.

It's already forbidden to talk on cellphones while driving, but the legislators at the time evidently didn't think drivers would merrily tap at their miniature keyboards while hurtling down the road. Yet oddly, they do.

Ophir Pines-Paz of Labor, the mind behind the bill, suggests an NIS 250 fine for violators. He says that young drivers are especially prone to messaging while driving, and that the habit is causing accidents and endangering life.

In another legislative initiative, Izhak Ziv of the Gil-Pensioners Party has teamed up with Likud's Gilad Erdan to suggest that digital timers be placed on traffic lights, indicating how much time remains until the light next changes. Their rationale is not to relieve the agony of drivers chafing at red lights: it's to advise the risks of entering the intersection, thereby reducing the uncertainty element in driving, they explain.

Another Erdan initiative is to stick phone numbers on all government cars, and companies with car fleets, that civilians can call when the driver of one of the cars commits a traffic offense. He claims that international experience with tattle-numbers has halved the incidence of accidents.

Limor Livnat and colleagues think that new drivers should be required to learn first aid, which is always a useful skill, they point out.

Recently a motorcycle rider, Moshe Hai Israel, died on the roads. Video records show vehicles zipping around him as he lay injured, with none stopping to offer succor.