Road Safety Authority Warns of Dangerous Ayalon Highway Lane
Translated & summarized from N12 by baba
The National Road Safety Authority warned Ayalon Highways about a dangerous new fast lane after five serious accidents, including two fatal ones, occurred in its first three months. The authority's CEO cited infrastructure issues and the lane's design, which he believes increases the risk of fatal errors. The warning follows a separate accident yesterday where 17 people were injured.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- National Road Safety Authority warns of dangerous new fast lane on Ayalon Highway.
- Two people died and five serious accidents occurred in the lane's first three months.
- The lane's design is criticized for increasing the risk of fatal driver errors.
- The warning follows a separate accident yesterday injuring 17 people.
- The authority requests an urgent meeting to discuss safety improvements.
The CEO of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), Gili Cohen, has warned the CEO of Ayalon Highways, Orly Stern, about the dangers of a new fast lane on the Ayalon Highway, calling it a "new risk center." Cohen cited infrastructure and enforcement gaps following a series of accidents since the lane's opening.
In the first three months of the lane's operation, five serious accidents occurred at its interface, resulting in two fatalities. Cohen noted that in all these incidents, vehicles crossed the yellow line or separation bollards and collided with vehicles in the fast lane. The current setup, he explained, involves buses traveling at high speeds adjacent to congested lanes, separated only by bollards designed to limit but not entirely prevent crossing. This arrangement, he warned, increases the likelihood of drivers attempting to cross to bypass traffic and exacerbates the severity of collisions due to speed differentials.
Cohen emphasized the "safe system" approach, which posits that roads should be forgiving of human error. "The transportation system must be designed so that a mistake does not end in death or serious injury," he stated. He requested an urgent meeting with Ayalon Highways' engineering and planning teams, the police, and the NRSA to discuss alternatives and review traffic monitoring data before the meeting.
His warning comes just a day after 17 people were injured in an accident on the Ayalon Highway. In that incident, a school bus attempted to enter the public transport lane by crossing the yellow bollards, colliding with a bus and then hitting a concrete wall. The minibus driver was initially in moderate condition but later deteriorated to very serious. A 17-year-old girl sustained moderate injuries, and 15 others were lightly injured.
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