NORTH The National Road Safety Authority announced this week that it had completed a project to improve the safety infrastructure surrounding 1,100 educational institutions in some 170 regional councils across the country in which safety hazards had been identified. In the framework of the project, which focused on creating a safe environment for children, 882 speed bumps were paved, some 6,675 meters of safety barriers were constructed and over 20 kilometers of railings were fixed along sidewalks.Going to and from school is one of the main situations in which children are exposed to the dangers of the road, according to the authority. Data gathered by the Terem organization – a provider of emergency medical care – found that about 54 percent of children walk to school. Some 12% cross the road in a manner that endangers their lives – jaywalking, not adhering to road safety guidelines or crossing without looking in all directions first.The authority formulated a comprehensive policy to remove safety hazards and to develop infrastructure that would aid pedestrian safety around schools and community centers. The project was selected after a study was conducted by the authority showing that by establishing safety measures, it would be possible to reduce the number of accidents involving pedestrians by 40%. The devices used will prevent people from crossing the road where there are no pedestrian crossings and will limit the speed of vehicles in areas close to educational institutions and spaces packed with pedestrians. The total cost of the project was NIS 12 million.1 man drowns, 1 seriously injured at Kinneret A 34-year-old man was seriously injured last weekend when he dived into shallow water in Lake Kinneret.The man sustained an injury to his spine.Paramedics treated him at the scene and a Magen David Adom helicopter evacuated him to Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center.In a separate incident, a 70-year-old tourist drowned in the Kinneret. The man was pulled out of the water after friends found him floating in the lake, unconscious. After a lengthy attempt to resuscitate the man, MDA paramedics pronounced him dead.CENTER Citizens protest rabbinical marriage monopoly A huppa (wedding canopy) was set up at Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square on Sunday and many glasses were ceremoniously smashed to mark Lag Ba’omer in protest at rabbinical control over marriage in Israel. Every year hundreds of couples get married on Lag Ba’omer, taking advantage of the only evening during the counting of the Omer between Passover and Shavuot when it is permitted to marry.The Be Free Israel movement organized the event, “as part of its struggle against the rabbinical monopoly in Israel that dictates how, when and with whom citizens marry.” The organization said the goal of its activities is to wake up Israel’s silent majority, which does not see observing the semi-mourning period of the Omer as an obligatory custom but as religious coercion.Dozens of citizens attended the event, including MK Boaz Toporovsky (Yesh Atid), Tel Aviv Deputy Mayor Asaf Zamir and former Meretz MK Mossi Raz.“This is a great opportunity to break both the glass and the rabbinic monopoly, and to make room for other bodies and opinions in Israeli society. It is not acceptable that for 65 years, there is only place for one [religious] stream,” Be Free Israel executive director Mickey Gitzin said ahead of the event, before inviting the public to attend and “expand the space for additional streams.”Be Free Israel defines itself as a civil, non-partisan movement that works towards a free, egalitarian, pluralistic and democratic society, in keeping with Zionism and Israel’s Declaration of Independence.The movement aims to promote freedom of religion alongside freedom from religion, in order to enable Israel’s citizens to live their lives according to their beliefs.TA councilman launches ‘Green Revolution’ City councilman Reuven Ladiansky announced last week the establishment of a new environmental movement, the “Green Revolution in Tel Aviv.”Ladiansky also introduced the movement’s council of experts, headed by Prof. Alon Tal, and its “revolutionary enrichment program that will lead to environmental excellence in Tel Aviv.”“Over the past 15 years, we have witnessed the neglect and failure in the most cardinal matters to this city and its residents,” Ladiansky stated. “To be green is not the color that a politician smears once during the elections, but a way of life,” he added, saying that Tel Avivians should be made partners in municipal endeavors.The movement, led by Ladiansky, will compete in the upcoming municipal elections. It comprises a merger between the Let Live faction and the Green Movement, and other environmental and political bodies are expected to join them.Ladiansky launched the movement on the iconic Earth Day last Monday, and six months ahead of the local elections.Key points in the program include: developing the downtown area of south Tel Aviv; transforming the new central bus station area into an academic complex, and building accessible and environmentally friendly housing units; developing public transportation; creating mini-parks in every neighborhood of the city; installing solar panels on every building in Tel Aviv; creating a green industrial area and an emergency municipal clinic for abandoned animals; banning polluting vehicles from Tel Aviv roads; introducing incentives to reduce household waste; expanding public areas on beaches; and nixing the boardwalk expansion project.Pedestrian killed in Netanya road accident A pedestrian in his 50s died in a road accident at the Netanya interchange last week.Police initially suspected that it was a hit-and-run accident; however, an investigation later revealed that the pedestrian had been drunk and fell in the road. He was subsequently hit by two cars, one of whose drivers alerted the emergency services. The man received first aid treatment on the scene but died en route to the hospital. Police were searching for the second driver.Fire breaks out in Ramat Gan residential building A fire broke out at a residential building on the corner of Herzl and Ben-Gurion streets in Ramat Gan last Friday night.Residents were evacuated from the building and there were no casualties. Firefighters extinguished the flames and sections of the roads were closed to traffic.SOUTH Cherie Blair, Amoz Oz to participate in annual BGU meeting Ben-Gurion University of the Negev is set to hold its 43rd annual board of governors’ meeting next Tuesday, which will include a panel discussion on women’s entrepreneurship, with the UK’s Cherie Blair and business leaders. Israel best-selling authors Amoz Oz and Meir Shalev will also be guests of honor at the conference, and the recipients of the fifth Goldstein-Goren International Prize for the Most Important Book in Jewish Thought for the years 2010-2012 will be announced. A lecture on the approach of personalized medicine will also be delivered by Prof. Patrick Aebischer.Blair, a barrister and wife of former UK prime minister and current Quartet Middle East envoy Tony Blair, will receive the honorary title of Doctor of Philosophy. Blair is also the founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women. Honorary doctoral degrees will also be conferred upon Prof. Robert Langer, Ruth Flinkman-Marandy and Nobel Prize Laureate Prof. Mario Capecchi, all three whom are from the US. Aebischer of Switzerland and Prof. Yehoshua Blau of Israel will also receive the title. Additionally, Bertie Lubner of South Africa will be presented the Lifetime Achievement Award.Man, 25, found stabbed to death on Ashdod beach A 25-year-old man was found dead with multiple stab wounds all over his body on the beach in Ashdod early Monday morning.A second person at the scene was also stabbed and was evacuated to Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot with light injuries.Police arrested a suspect.10-year-old girl hit by car, killed in Ashkelon A 10-year-old girl was killed on Sunday when a car hit her as she was crossing a street in Ashkelon.She was evacuated in critical condition to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, where she died.The driver was held for questioning.1 dead, 1 injured in car accident in Negev A 24-year-old man was killed in a car accident in southern Israel on Highway 31 last weekend. Another 24-year-old man was moderately injured in the accident.The injured man was taken to Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba and paramedics pronounced the other victim dead at the scene of the accident.An initial investigation found that the car was the sole vehicle involved in the accident and that it had overturned.
