The Bais Yaakov School in Neveh Yaakov and another chareidi school in Jerusalem, Mesilah Naaleh, were selected to receive this year’s Mayor’s Award for road safety.

The two schools were chosen by the Municipal Road Safety Center from among dozens of educational institutions in the city based on the extensive educational programs the schools run, including learning centers and various activities. Mayor Rabbi Uri Lupoliansky said the unique programs on road safety the municipality has been operating in recent years at chareidi schools have made it possible to raise awareness of this important issue among students, and the programs play an important role in saving lives.

Every year a competition is held; a panel of judges visits all of the participating schools and selects the standouts that will advance to the final round. Last week the Mayor awarded the prize to select schools at a ceremony held in the City Council hall, with various representatives from the municipality, traffic police, Education Ministry and National Road Safety Authority on hand.

To raise awareness on the issue of road safety among the chareidi public the municipality recently launched an informational campaign conducted through posters, signs on guard rails and on buses operating in chareidi neighborhoods. The notices highlight remarks by gedolei haposkim, who say road safety is a Torah mitzvah.

Throughout the year the Chareidi Road Safety Department runs educational programs adapted to the chareidi public and carried out under rabbinical supervision in various neighborhoods around the city, and provides training programs for teachers. The department also operates a training center that simulates road conditions. There students learn proper bicycle safety, safe street crossing, familiarity with road conditions and traffic signs, etc.

Says City Councilman and Traffic Commissioner Rabbi Yaakov Shnur, “The Road Safety Department’s effort to raise awareness on this important issue has had its effect and puts the chareidi education system in first place, as someone for whom venishmartem lenafshoseichem is both a Torah exigency and a moral mandate.”

(Source: Dei’ah veDibur)