On Wednesday, Israeli police held a wide-spread sting operation in the city of Bnei Brak handing out tickets for traffic violations during a period of heightened enforcement. Most of the offences were deemed “life-threatening” or “bullying on the roadways”. The point of the sting operation was to increase the level of deterrence among drivers and change the driving culture in the region.

Already in the early hours of the morning, dozens of police cruisers, some marked, others hidden, as well as police motorcycle officers, were spread throughout the city on on near roadways. The officers were specifically looking to ticket drivers who committed infractions that did or could cause traffic accidents and injure people on the roads.

Tactical cameras were also used to document and enforce the infractions. Many infractions included using a cellphone while driving, not giving right-of-way to other drivers or pedestrians, and careless or reckless driving.

A spokesperson for the police said: The use of technology to increase the level of enforcement, is a valuable tool in creating deterrence in the fight against the number of car accidents leading to injuries and death on the roadways.”

Drivers caught using their cell phones while driving were given 1,000 NIS fines and lost eight points from their license. 17 drivers were ticketed for this infraction.

Five drivers were ticketed for careless driving, nine drivers ticketed for lack of restraining devices (seat belts), close to 30 were ticketed for not giving over right-of-way, and 22 drivers were ticketed for ignoring a stop sign.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)