'Men are responsible for 74% of accidents causing injury'

Just one week after a deadly car accident in the Arava valley claimed the lives of almost an entire family, the Central Bureau for Statistics revealed data on the makeup of some 92,000 recorded traffic accidents that occurred in Israel in the last year, and the drivers who cause them.

The study, released Tuesday, included comparisons of Arab and Jewish drivers, males and females, as well as data on the older and younger generations.

It found that 73,000 accidents resulted in injuries of either the drivers or passengers.

According to data, 74 percent of drivers in traffic accidents that resulted in injury were male, while 26% were female. Women make up 42% of registered drivers in the country.

Arabs constituted 26% of those injured in traffic accidents, and 35% of those killed. The Arab population of the country is 21% of the total population, making them slightly over-represented among those injured in car accidents.

Fifty-seven percent of those killed in any accident were killed in rural areas, which made up only 26% of accidents.

Additionally, 68% of pedestrians injured while crossing the street were injured at crosswalks.

Of those injured in the 14,724 mishaps classified as “traffic accidents,” 305 were fatal, and 1,375 resulted in serious injuries. Seventy-three percent of these accidents occurred in urban areas, and 34% at traffic intersections.

The study also had a section comparing traffic infractions by Jewish Israelis and Arab Israelis.

For example, Arab citizens made up more tailgating infractions than Jews, whereas Jewish drivers received more tickets for not giving proper right of way to pedestrians.

Arab citizens received more excessive speeding tickets compared to Jews, while Jewish drivers received more infractions for running stop signs.

As for infractions-by-age comparisons, young people were much more likely to receive speeding tickets than older drivers.

Of all infractions for drivers 18-yearsold and younger, 16.9% received speeding tickets, compared to 1.8% of those aged 55-64.