(haipo) – After repeated complaints from residents about the disappearance of panoramic mirrors from many streets in the city, the Haifa Municipality issued the following statement: "A panoramic mirror is not an approved standard."
For years, residents of Haifa have been complaining that panoramic mirrors that were placed at various points in the city have been removed. The panoramic mirrors are often placed at dangerous intersections and at exits from private parking lots to improve the field of vision.
Despite the municipality's claims that this is a device that is not approved by the Ministry of Transportation, mirrors that had disappeared were previously returned to their place, following requests from residents. However, now, as an official response to repeated complaints, the municipality has announced that the mirrors will not be reinstalled since they are not part of the devices approved for use on public roads.
In the past two months, "Hai Pa" has published two articles on the subject, and the system continues to receive more and more complaints from residents expressing concern for their safety due to the removal of the mirrors.
Naomi Lehman, a resident of Freud Street, one of the city's busiest streets, described the daily reality that residents face: "We live on a busy street with four lanes of traffic, dangerous turns, and almost zero field of vision. Crossing the road or getting out of a parking lot feels like a life-threatening risk. The panoramic mirrors that were previously placed on the median strips were the minimal solution that helped reduce the risk. But recently we have witnessed a phenomenon of 'theft' of mirrors, which are attached with only a few screws and no soldering. The result is that every day we live under a real threat of a serious accident."
According to her, many inquiries to the municipality were met with disappointing answers: "Instead of the municipality addressing the phenomenon and providing a safety solution, it places the responsibility on the residents! They claim that this is vandalism and therefore it is not their responsibility. How can residents be required to purchase mirrors with their own money and coordinate their installation with the municipal roads department? This is unimaginable audacity."
Lehman adds, "This panoramic mirror is the only one that allows adequate visibility for crossing the road to the public parking lots on the other side. There is no crosswalk, no bridge, and no speed bumps – even though all of these were promised in the past. The mirror allows for a very short window of time to cross the road, especially when the traffic light at the Horev-Freud intersection momentarily slows down the flow of cars. Even with the mirror, crossing the road is a dangerous challenge, but without it – it is a real risk to life."
The Haifa Municipality responded: "A panoramic mirror is not an approved standard. The municipality, as the local traffic authority, will not approve a standard that is not approved by the Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Examination of Traffic and Road Safety Devices. Residents are permitted to place such a standard on private property."
Municipality of Damicolo
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Haifa Municipality solves neighborhood problems in Haifa
Happy Purim and a blessed and peaceful Shabbat.
The Haifa Municipality does not solve the problems of closed neighborhoods and does not provide road connections that were approved in master plans and are considered enactments, and thus endangers the public in cases of fires, earthquakes, war, etc. - so in light of the fact that the Haifa Municipality does not have time to deal with another hazard described in the article, a life-threatening hazard.
The Haifa Municipality and the planning authorities have been busy in recent years canceling roads that were approved in outline plans and are in the process of being enacted (for example, the unlawful cancellation, in practice, of Tadal Street in the section connecting Mapo/Tel Mana Street to the northern end of Harofeh Street; the cancellation of the road route that was approved in the comprehensive plan for Haifa, 2000, effective in 2019, which creates a transportation connection from Horev Street, via Mordot Golda and via the Ramat Begin neighborhood, via Ramat Gural, to the Athletes' Road XNUMX) – so who has time to bother with the trifles of safety and saving lives on the roads??
Panoramic mirrors are a very dangerous thing. The municipality is very right not to install them for a simple reason. The driver exits the parking lot while looking at the mirror, and what's the point and the mirror is not aimed??? Have you thought about it????
You're the real cat, Shmil. Most drivers don't know where the mirrors are and how to use them. And those who do know also know how to look. If they're not aligned, then any primate can understand that it's not showing the right route. Go out and learn how to use the side and rearview mirrors in your car. The residents are demanding a brain transplant for Green Leaf. He must have smoked too much Green Leaf and it went to his head.
We need to look for an excuse to take away our private vehicles (this is one of the items on the agenda).
Car accidents are a great excuse.
The Haifa Municipality's response reveals a lack of understanding, likely due to a fundamental shortage of traffic safety engineers, because in its response (quote):
"A panoramic mirror is not an approved standard. The municipality, as the local traffic authority, will not approve a standard that is not approved by the Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Examination of Traffic and Road Safety Devices. Residents are permitted to place such a standard on private property."
Instead of working for traffic safety and even changing the traffic regulations for road safety! (Yes, it is possible and even necessary) and raising the issue for approval by the inter-ministerial committee to examine traffic and road safety devices, and examining where to require the addition of similar safety mirrors in places with limited visibility during travel and times of accidents, it chooses to renounce support for preventing road accidents.
Attention: Transportation Department (or another name for the department if I'm wrong...)
Take responsibility so we can drive safely!!!
(In the European Union, these safety mirrors are used all along the roads. There is no logical reason why their legal use should not be approved in Israel as well.)
And I swear – it's not about speed!
Kdd
You're the one who doesn't understand professional whining at all, not the municipality, it's a danger to drivers when it's not intentional.
I've never used them.
And I have to say, as someone who passes by there several times a day... people think they're on some kind of race track on this descent/ascent.
The accidents occur against a backdrop of impossible congestion on the roads due to excessive vehicle imports and a failure to prioritize public transportation.
In Haifa, there were twice as many accidents in 2024 as there were 2 years ago. This number says it all – a nightmare on the roads. A colossal failure in managing transportation infrastructure in Haifa. A disaster of inaction in the last two terms – 10-minute commutes and private car solutions instead of empowering buses. Canceling Egged TickTock. Hiring demikolu consultants who are only nice to car owners in the neighborhoods.
This is the result!!