Tel Aviv courts tougher on negligent drivers - survey

In Tel Aviv, drivers convicted of having caused death by negligence are sentenced to an average of 11 months in prison.

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
Tel Aviv courts are tougher on drivers who kill than are courts in Haifa and other cities, according to the Or Yarok (Green Light) road safety organization. In a comprehensive survey of hundreds of sentences handed down by courts around Israel in recent years, the organization found that in Tel Aviv drivers convicted of having caused death by negligence were sentenced to an average of 11 months in jail, while in Haifa they were sentenced to an average of just seven months in jail, reports www.local.co.il. According to the report, the organization presented its findings at an international convention on road safety held in Tel Aviv last week. The convention was attended by President Shimon Peres, Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter and transportation specialists from Israel and around the world. The survey found that the average jail term around the country imposed on drivers convicted of having caused death by negligence was 8.5 months, while in Tel Aviv the figure was 11 months and in Haifa it was seven months. The survey also found that the average fine imposed on drivers convicted of this offense was NIS 10,000, with "isolated" cases in which fines were higher than NIS 50,000. Almost all drivers convicted of causing death by negligence had their licenses suspended, with the average period of suspension being 10 years and a few drivers losing their licenses permanently. The survey also found that when convicted drivers appealed to higher courts, in most cases this had little effect. Only 10 percent of appeals succeeded in gaining any change to the original sentence, with only a few actually winning and the vast majority obtaining "insignificant" changes that reduced the original sentences by an average of just one month.