(Hai Pa) - Winter came without us noticing and this means that the time of darkness will be longer and will start already in the afternoon - when the adults return from work and the children from educational institutions. From an analysis by the Green Green Association of the CBS data, it appears that the hours of darkness in Haifa are the hours when the most traffic accidents take place.
The average dangerous hours of the day in Israel:
- 15: 00-16: 00- The most dangerous time of the day, when the most people were injured in road accidents in 2022, during which 1,373 people were injured.
- 17: 00-16: 00- The most dangerous time of the day, the year before it.
- 16:00 to 17:00- The second most dangerous hour of the day in 2022, during which 1,342 people were injured last year.
- 00: 00-23: 00- The deadliest hour, when the most people were killed in road accidents in 2022 (24 people).
- 17: 00-16: 00- The deadly hour followed, in which 23 people were killed.
- 17: 00-16: 00- The worst late afternoon and afternoon hours in the urban area in 2022 (716 people).
- 16: 00-15: 00 - The second hour is dangerous, during which in 2022 712 people were injured in road accidents in the urban area.
Haifa was found to be especially dangerous in the evening hours:
- 18:00-17:00 - At this time the number of victims in traffic accidents in Haifa was the highest in 2022, during which 58 people were injured.
- 20:00-19:00 - The second hour in Haifa's danger zone, during which 53 people were injured in accidents in the city.
The conditions for driving in the dark and at night are very different from driving during the day due to:
- Visibility decreases and it is more difficult to distinguish vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists and scooter riders.
- The most obvious danger of night driving is the decrease in vision. The distance a driver can see in the hours of darkness is shortened.
- In addition, it takes time for the eyes to get used to the dark after staying in a lighted place or after driving on a lighted road.
- In the dark it is more difficult to estimate speed and distance and objects may be closer or those approaching faster than the driver's ability to estimate.
- The hours of darkness are hours when the body prepares itself for sleep, especially after a tiring day at work. Driver fatigue and sleepiness are major reasons for being injured in road accidents at night.
The proposed solutions:
- Using public transportation can be a good solution and an alternative to driving after dark.
- When you feel tired while driving, drinking a cup of strong coffee and a short rest may be a good and safe solution for driving while tired for hours.
Attorney Yaniv Yaakov, CEO of the Green Or Association:
Targeting and understanding the main times when traffic accidents occur allows to focus enforcement and police presence on the main roads in order to create a deterrent atmosphere that prevents traffic violations. As much as the Ministry of Transportation and Road Safety and the local authorities concentrate their efforts in those critical hours, we will be able to reduce road accidents. Focusing activity during the "red hours" is a central need in managing the struggle to reduce carnage on the roads and is a required and necessary step to reduce the high number of road accidents.
We must reduce parking on all commercial streets and force people to travel by public transportation. Make car ownership 2-3 times more expensive and take several hundred thousand vehicles off the roads per year instead of adding them.
At the same time, to produce hundreds more new bus lines including a network of thousands of kilometers of long-distance bus routes that are covered every year.
This is the only solution for Israel against the backdrop of increasing density.
Moriah-Khorev-Aba Khushi-University axis: Haifa must urgently promote the Carmelit 2 line from Magen Ham to the University and Magen Ham to Stella Maris.