Transport Min. pledges nationwide road safety plan

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced yesterday that he would restore the NIS 150 million cut from the budget of the campaign to fight traffic accidents, bringing it back up to NIS 550 million.

Although clearly influenced by the recent spate of deadly accidents, sources close to the prime minister insisted that this decision was not a reversal, explaining that the cut had been proposed by officials at the treasury.

At the cabinet meeting yesterday, a report was presented to ministers on road safety and accidents. Presented by Ministry of Transportation officials and members of the National Road Safety Authority, the report covered 1997-2006.

"The accidents have become more lethal and the situation is troubling," Olmert said. "The minister of transport [Shaul Mofaz] will be given all the tools to carry out a genuine campaign against accidents - both in terms of prevention through education and also by improving the infrastructure."

According to data presented at the meeting, the number of children aged one to four who are injured in traffic accidents in the Arab community is 35 percent higher than in the Jewish population. Representatives of the Ministry of Transport said that they planned to invest NIS 22 million in an information campaign on road safety for Arab residents.

In 2006, according to the ministry's report, 448 persons were killed in traffic accidents - a 6 percent drop compared to 2005. The number of traffic accident deaths in 2006 was the lowest in 17 years. Of those killed last year, 139 were pedestrians. Also, there were 780 instances of drivers breaking through traffic barriers at train crossings. Forty percent of the drivers involved in deadly traffic accidents were professionals (truck, bus, taxi drivers).

The transport minister presented a plan that aims to reduce traffic accidents by 6 percent per year. The plan would combine more severe punishment for traffic violators, more enforcement of laws, a change in the points system - whereby violators may accumulate points that lead to a loss of their license - and traffic education.

In a bid to improve road safety, representatives from the road safety authority suggested that high-school students receive their matriculation certificates only after passing a driver's education course.

In a meeting held Saturday in Nazareth, the committee of local council heads in Arab communities discussed the rising death toll in road accidents. The committee decided to hold a rally next Wednesday at Yuvalim Junction, and to urge the Ministry of Transport to allocate funds to improvements on Road No. 805, which is dubbed the "Blood Road" by locals.