Transportation Minister Bezalel Smotrich opened 'Road Safety Week' at a government meeting Sunday. At the meeting, data and plans were presented for streamlining and improving road safety and reducing the impact of road accidents.
In his remarks, Smotrich noted, "I took office a few months ago and one of the first issues I asked to put on my desk and promote this is the issue of road safety."
"'Anyone who saves one life, it is as if he saved an entire world,'" Smotrich said, quoting the Talmud. "We don't have the option of wasting time. "We are committed to public safety and must promote the road safety issue."
"The National Road Safety Authority is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport and it receives my full backing to provide the government with the right solutions to advance the issue. The staff is currently working on submitting a multi-year national road safety program that will significantly reduce road accidents. A big thank you to the CEO of the National Road Safety Authority Rachel Tevet-Wiesel and to all the staff of the National Road Safety Authority.
The Minister concluded by addressing the citizens of Israel, "I ask and plead with the citizens of Israel, put your cell phones aside while driving, be vigilant, pay attention to the pedestrians, take a foot off the gas, keep a distance, drive carefully. These are not clichés, it is life itself, a matter of life and death."