Traffic Enforcement in Judea-Samaria: A New Dawn?

The Israel Police for Judea-Samaria has uploaded a new video and they want you to see what they are up to re traffic law enforcement now.

In the video we first see a driver pulled aside for crossing the solid white line on the road and then an officer explains that, in addition to regular traffic violations enforcement, they are increasing their attention to certain roads with the support from a helicopter and border police units. Then another car was pulled off the road for making an illegal pass (across a white solid line) and told that the helicopter spotted him. The ticket is 500 NIS. Then a car is pulled over because a child is sitting without a safety booster.

They stopped cars with safety issues: dry, cracked tires, motor light on and problem not attended to, broken light cover,

Finally, the officer says that they will apply all the measure available to them to reduce the number of traffic accidents on Judea-Samaria roads.

The Police Spokesperson’s Office released the following statement:

In the framework of focused traffic law enforcement, traffic police in Judea-Samaria conducted intense enforcement activities that main concerned driving behaviours that endanger the public on the roads and life-endangering bullying. Among the tickets handed out are the following:

• crossing a solid line dividing traffic in both directions – 69
• using a cellphone while driving – 31
• speeding – 83
• passing through a red light – 3

In addition, 29 drivers’ licences were revoked and 16 vehicles were taken off the road.

The Police will continue to work toward changing the driving culture, including driver education

Is there change in the air?

With all the talk in the past few months about “settler violence” and the recent backlash on the part of the leaders and residents of Jewish communities in Judea-Samaria fighting to have the true cause of violence recognized and addressed, and a few recent serious and tragic car accidents, are the law enforcement and security forces starting to do their jobs?

Perhaps driving culture can change even on Judea-Samaria roads where, until now, there was the sense that it was a Wild-West culture. More than on roads within the 1948 armistice lines, drivers seem to treat traffic laws as suggestions to be disregarded at will. Will more consistent traffic enforcement lead to significant change?

Feature Image Credit: Screenshot from video uploaded to YouTube by the Office of Police Spokesperson.