Acquaint Yourself With Driving in Israel – From a First Person View of Live Traffic

I was fascinated to see a post on one of the groups in the social media regarding a question that came up on the topic of inconsideration. Perhaps inconsiderate people would be the better way of saying things. Perhaps “Mediterranean Attitude” could be better – though it may sound quite judgmental…

A lady had posted a question regarding her complete frustration of having to walk through a particular area with her double stroller in the morning. As she goes through – she explains – she encounters certain vehicles parked on the pavement taking up the entire area. This is a given every day, making it impossible for her to use the pavement areas as an ordinary pedestrian is in fact entitled to use. Let alone her own use – it is vital that she be able to pass through together with her stroller. As a result of hte incosiderate behaviour of certain motorists, it is simply impossible for her to get through with her stroller. She seems to be going through this on a regular basis and asks for advice as to what she can do.

I found a number of the responses to be quite disconcerting. While many people did indeed sympathise with the person and yet others empathised too, there was a substantial amount of people who fully agreed with the attitude of inconsideration. She had noted that she had called the police to attend to the vehicles blocking the way – who only turned up an hour later (to find the vehicle wasn’t actually there! [Well… an hour had passed already!]) one person commented, “Calling the police because a motorcycle is bothering you (sic) way with the trolly is a joke”. I’m not sure if he meant to insult her behaviour or whether he wanted to say that calling the police is altogether a joke because one cannot depend on them in any case. By the tone of the comment, it was the former that I considered to being closer to the truth!

Another person had this to say, “Maybe the morale (sic) to this story is for you to try and be more laid back and relaxed when things don’t go your way. Enjoy the sunshine and the warm weather. Good luck”

One person said that “Problem here is nobody cares and they know there is virtually no enforcement of every day (sic) violations whether it be for parking or other more serious offences”

An apparent sympathiser noted that “I agree with you and sympathize with you. However, there is a real reason that Israel has a third world mentality. Look where we are on the map. Between Italy and Saudi Arabia Most of the people living here now grew up in a third world country (israel (sic) included…)”

Two other comments caught my attention:

“This is middle east… this happens in every gan and schools (sic) and it is all socially accepted. This is the culture here. Just concentrate on getting your child to the class. Also if you are nasty with the gan people, they will behave nasty with your child. The child may get damaged emotionally. Don’t forget you are living with people from 120 countries in Israel.”

“Yeh the above is normal, you need to get withe (sic) the Modus Operandi of the country, if it really bothers you then you will need to scream at the offender in such a way that the convenience of parking there is outweighed by the unpleasantness of dealing with you.”

The comments seemed to not end, and in truth, I could not manage to get through the dozens that were made. What a popular post it made! So much for it not being issue… A lack of consideration for others is a terrible quality and a lack of manners for most residents of Israel. Everyone agrees It is just whether everyone agrees that behaving in such a way is inappropriate!

DRIVING IN ISRAEL

One person posted a video to show others of the conditions of driving in Israel in general. Here, we see a first-person point of view of a parent taking his child to school. I felt the video to be invaluable. It gives an outsider (or someone living here getting ready to own their own car) a good look at the conditions for driving in Israel. The point of the video is of course to show the imminent dangers of driving, the inconsideration on many levels, and a perspective on how to deal with the type of conditions one will find oneself in on a daily basis. Maybe one of those drivers in the video is you – or a relative or a friend, and by watching it, it will make you aware of the danger you are putting the lives of others in. It is really a miracle to see the driver arrive at his destination safely! 

I post the video here for information purposes and with a hope that those who do drive in Israel pay more attention to the value of life than the value of a car reaching its destination. Remember that driving without consideration could also mean having to hear the screaming sound of an ambulance just moments later. It could be you in it… or it could be someone else in it… because of you! On the other hand… it may be exchanged for a hearse not too long afterwards!

Consideration applies to parking. It applies to letting pedestrians walk where they are entitled to. It applies to driving a car. In fact, it applies to every area of our lives! Be good… Be considerate. Remember – you’re special…. just like everyone else!