Young Nahariya Woman Wins Multi-Million Shekel Injury Settlement After Scooter Crash
A 20-year-old woman from Nahariya was badly injured on November 24, 2021, just two weeks after leaving the army. While riding as a passenger on a scooter on Hapeleha Street in Nahariya, she was hit hard by a car that came from the right. The crash left her with severe, multi-system injuries, and the insurer tried to reduce compensation because she had no employment history or pay slips.
Her lawyer, Azy Nager Cohen, said the worst physical injury was a complex crush fracture in the bones of her right foot. She was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery, spent long periods hospitalized, then underwent months of recovery at home, with intensive physiotherapy. The injury left her with limited mobility, a limp and scars. Court-appointed experts assessed her at 10% orthopedic disability and 5% for scarring. Psychiatrist Professor Moshe Kotler determined she suffers from PTSD and severe depression, and she still uses medical cannabis and medication.
The case also hinged on lost earning capacity. About six months after the crash, she tried to return to work, but only part-time and seated, as a drinks-store saleswoman earning about 5,500 shekels gross a month. Cohen compared that with the 2022 average monthly wage of 12,120 shekels, arguing the gap showed a 54% loss of functional earning power.
Her situation worsened again after the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023. In August 2023 she had enrolled in veterinary nursing studies, but two months later she was evacuated from her Nahariya home to central Israel. Since then she has not worked, her studies have been affected, and the accident trauma intensified because of the war and displacement. The claim sought about 2.47 million shekels for past and future lost earnings, pension and social benefits, pain and suffering, medical expenses, travel costs, and household help. Cohen said young victims must not let insurers minimize them, because their real loss is what they would have earned in the future.
