On Wednesday, January 5th, 2022, Channel 13 News broadcasted a report by journalists Ali Maghribi and Chen Zender on the tragedies of road accidents in Arab towns, demonstrating the scope of the tragedy faced by the Arab community, as 361 people were killed in the previous year (2021), with Arabs accounting for more than 30% of those killed.
During the report, Jaafar Farah, the director of the Mossawa Center, highlighted the lack of a training center for the Road Safety Authority in Arab towns, the lack of educational programs aimed at teaching youth about road safety and traffic laws, and discrimination in the allocation of resources to road infrastructure in Arab villages.
According to a study done by “Or Yarok”, a traffic safety lobbying non-profit organization:
- 39% of Arab youth drive without a driver's license
- 54% drove at illegal speeds- according to the testimony of one of the young men in the report, at 300 kilometers per hour
- 35% of people drive without wearing a seat belt
Furthermore, the study discussed a "phenomenon" of people driving motorcycles and tractors without proper licenses for the purpose of entertainment, as well as organizing races on public highways and in neighborhoods.
The Mossawa Center emphasizes the importance of improving road infrastructure in Arab cities to combat unlawful driving, as well as building safe driving guidance centers to promote a culture of traffic safety and imposing stronger traffic enforcement.
The Mossawa Center issued a report outlining its demands from the Ministry of Transportation's budget, as well as an appeal to Knesset members to convene a meeting in the presence of the Transportation Minister to examine discrimination in the transportation sector and road safety.
For the full report:
