Road safety

  • Issue: March 1982
  • Designer: R. Kantor
  • Stamp size: 51.4 x 20 mm
  • Plate no.: 33
  • Sheet of 15 stamps Tabs: 5
  • Printers: Government Printers
  • Method of printing: Photogravure

The ever-increasing level of motorization, accompanied as it is, by the failure to provide a corresponding expanding road network and other safety conditions, has resulted in more and more victims of traffic accidents from year to year. More people are killed or injured as a result of traffic accidents in Israel than by any illness or disease, and since the beginning of the State, more people have been injured or killed on the roads than on the battlefield.

There are several bodies concerned with the problem of man and the highway in Israel - the Ministry of Transport; the Police; Local Authorities; the Public Works Department; the Army and the Military Police. The public war on road accidents is conducted by the National Council for the Prevention of Accidents which is a voluntary body with branches all over the country, has 140,000 drivers taking part in its annual "Safe Driver Contest", 4,000 Traffic Wardens, and hundreds of members who are active in various fields. It is a roof organization for all bodies and organizations who are willing to take part in the war against the slaughter on the roads. Among these bodies are women's organizations, youth organizations, Rotary, B'nei B'rith, the ex-servicemen's association, the organization of Safety Officers etc.

The Council's activities are directed to several specific sectors of the population:

Drivers: The Council organizes courses in "Preventive Driving". So far, no less than 145,000 drivers have taken this course in correct driving habits which is given at centres all over the country, to organizations, large workplaces and the Armed Forces. The Council also organizes an annual "Careful Driver" competition and 140,000 drivers "take a pledge" to drive safely. In addition, the Council organizes a corps of Traffic

Observers from among its members. These volunteers keep an eye on drivers on the road and report to the Council on cases of traffic contraventions and on cases of exemplary driving behaviour. The Council then sends the drivers concerned, either a warning letter or letter of commendation. The Wardens also work with the Traffic Police and help the Council in its special campaigns The Council pays special attention to professional drivers and in addition to acting as a source of information on professional questions, organizes an annual Professional Drivers' Competition, the winner of which represents Israel in the European "Best Professional Driver Competition".

Pedestrians: More than one half of all traffic victims are pedestrians and the Council devotes a large part of its budget and manpower to dealing with pedestrians - a category which covers all members of the population, including the drivers themselves. Among the activities of the Council in this field are: study days devoted to Preventive Walking designed to educate pedestrians in the problems of the driver; distribution of pamphlets in the streets; special instruction to the elderly in conjunction with the Brookdale Institute (the Institute sends its workers to Retirement Homes and Clubs for the Elderly)and together with volunteers from the Council, gives lectures on Road Safety.

Children and Young People: The Council gives "on the street" instruction to children in Grades 1, 2 and 3 and in cooperation with the ministry of Education, trains kindergarten teachers how to instruct their charges in road safety. The Council, together with the Ministry of Education and the Police, has constructed a number of instructional sites comprising miniature roads, traffic signs, traffic lights and even vehicles, on which children receive instruction in how to behave on the streets. There is also a special mobile training unit which sets up temporary instructional sites in towns and villages around the country. The Council also deals with the reports made out by the Children's Safety Patrols and sends warning letters to those drivers whom the children have reported as being guilty of contravening the law by ignoring the instructions of the patrols. The Council cooperates with the schools and the parents committee in promoting road safety campaigns in the schools and each summer provides the children and instructors at the summer camps with special material on the subject of road safety. The young people at school and in the youth movements actively participate in the work of the Council by assisting it in its various campaigns. Finally, special attention is paid to bicyclists and the Council arranges special meetings for them and organizes local and national competitions for young cyclists.

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Road safety