Following the fatal crash involving an Egged 402 bus on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv Highway earlier this week, the experts report that Israeli’s roadways do not conform with Israel’s standards, not to mention international standards.
They explain one major issue is the fact that shoulders are too narrow and a driver who must stop a vehicle may find himself in life-threatening danger due to the narrow shoulder, and/or creates a hazard by protruding into the right lane of the highway, as was the case here.
Police have learned the truck driver in this case had an oil leak and this compelled him to pull over. What is also known is the truck’s width did not permit it to fit entirely on the shoulder. Investigators have also learned the bus was driving on the yellow line on the right side of the right lane. Hence an accident was unavoidable.
At the area of the accident the shoulder measured 2.5 meters. The truck that pulled over required a minimum of three meters, hence at least a half meter (19 inches) of the truck did not fit on the shoulder and the vehicle protruded into the right lane of traffic. The area where the fatal accident occurred is well lit and visibility on the night of the accident was good as skies were clear. Another danger is that a driver pulls onto a shoulder and it appears he has sufficient space to exit the vehicle, but in reality, does not.
Expert accident investigator Chaim Gelbstein told Mordechai Lavi of Kol Chai Radio that there is fix without even expanding the road, by simply repainting the lanes and taking space that exists between the left land and barrier, which would be sufficient to provide a safe shoulder wide enough for cars and trucks alike. Gelbstein explains such accidents occur all the time, simply because drivers have to stop on a shoulder and they are R”L struck and often killed. Gelbstein is used by the Ministry of Transportation to investigation accidents and submit his comprehensive report to ministry officials.
Drivers are urged whenever possible to wait to pull over in an authorized car stop area.
Gelbstein explains one can hope that after submitting the comprehensive data including all contributory factors, insignificant as they may appear, that authorities use this data to prevent future accidents and not just to prosecute responsible parties.
Gelbstein advises anyone having to stop on a shoulder to carefully exit the vehicle and stand behind the protective barrier and not to remain in the vehicle. He adds that prior to exiting, turn on four-way flashers.
When asked where the shoulders are three meters as required by law, he stated “I don’t know every meter of all the roadways but I am not aware of any road in Israel that has a three-meter shoulder”.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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One Response
I was told on a driving course:
A very high amount of motorway (freeway) deaths occur in the ‘hard shoulder’ lane of the road, due to this type of collision.
Stopping on the shoulder should be avoided unless desperately needed.
If you do need to stop, exit the car immediately, and move on to the verge, moving a good few meters TOWARDS oncoming traffic.
If another vehicle should crash into yours, the debris will fly in the direction of traffic. Moving yourself towards oncoming traffic will put you out of harm’s way.
Keep safe!