Kiryat Gat women win flag for safe driving

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
Women make up 40 percent of the drivers in Israel, but are involved in only 27% of the car accidents, according to figures recently released by the Or Yarok road safety organization. And the women of the southern town of Kiryat Gat are amongst the safest drivers of all, reports www.mynet.co.il. According to the report, 1.35 million women in Israel hold driver's licenses, making up 40% of the total number of drivers. But the proportion of women involved in car accidents - especially serious accidents - is relatively low. 17,945 drivers who were involved in car accidents in 70 cities in 2008, of whom only 4,858 drivers (27%) were women. They also showed that women were involved in only 15% of those car accidents classified as "serious" and just 10% of the lethal car accidents. The report said that in the southern region, while women were involved in 28.4% of the car accidents in Beersheba - slightly higher than the national average - they were involved in just 11.9% of accidents in Kiryat Gat, one of the lowest figures in the country. The Kiryat Gat women were surpassed only by the women of the sparsely populated Arava (involved in just 4.9% of accidents), Modi'in Ilit (5.3%) and Rahat (10.6%). Women were also involved in a relatively low number of accidents in Netivot (19.2%), Ashdod (21%), Dimona (21.6%) and Eilat (22.9%). An Or Yarok spokesman said women were more obedient to driving laws than men, who generally drove more quickly and more recklessly, and who took greater chances on the roads.