Mandatory ‘How’s my driving?’ stickers may be up for debate

Transportation Ministry officials may be rethinking the mandatory placement of "How's my driving?" stickers on company vehicles, recently released government documents have indicated.

By SHARON UDASIN
Cars on a highway [illustrative] (photo credit: REUTERS)
Cars on a highway [illustrative]
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Transportation Ministry officials may be rethinking the mandatory placement of “How’s my driving?” stickers on company vehicles, recently released government documents have indicated.
While the Transportation Ministry added the use of such labels to the country’s Traffic Ordinance in early 2012, the ministry’s chief scientist is now in favor of canceling the requirement, according to a Knesset Research and Information Center report published by Dr. Yaniv Ronen on September 18.
The report discusses “the implementation of the law that requires those with vehicle fleets to attach stickers to their cars with information about reporting on inappropriate driving of their drivers” – known in much shorter terms as simply “Procedure 6,” which was made mandatory in 2005. Following Knesset approval in March 2012, the sticker requirement became part of the Traffic Ordinance, requiring the inclusion of a call center telephone number and charging employers with acquiring reports from that center, Ronen wrote. The amendment took effect in September 2012.
After receiving the call center reports for about 300 companies during the years 2012-2013, the chief scientist – Dr. Shai Sofer – investigated 155 reports, Ronen wrote. While investigating, Sofer found that no punitive measures were being taken against drivers who committed traffic violations, and there were no reports of deaths or serious injuries in accidents involving company drivers.
In addition to the fact that the effectiveness of the stickers has not been proven, encouraging drivers to report on others by contacting a call center requires the use of a mobile phone, which is not recommended for safety reasons, Ronen cited Sofer as explaining.
The use of call centers is “archaic,” and fails to “correspond with the technological status of Israel,” the report added. The chief scientist pointed out that many companies in the United States running garbage truck fleets use in-vehicle data recorder systems that automatically monitor driving, Ronen wrote.
In response to Ronen’s research, the Transportation Ministry said that “this is an internal report of the chief scientist of the Transportation Ministry.”
“The director-general of the Transportation Ministry has not yet held a professional hearing on the report, and therefore has not reached a decision on the matter,” the ministry added.