Nilhav Initiative
Bat-Yam municipality web site
The city of Bat Yam was chosen for a unique pilot in which unemployed residents are recruited to the national struggle to prevent road accidents. This initiative focuses on schoolchildren safety and is monitored by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor. The initiative was founded by the “Eyes on Road” association.
Bat Yam is safe for its children: during these very days the city of Bat Yam is preparing to make its schoolchildren safer during the 2010-2011 school year. The city of Bat Yam was chosen to be the first local authority to implement a unique pilot in road safety, which focuses on the safety of schoolchildren. This pilot will be monitored by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor.
As part of the new pilot, unemployed residents were trained to escort schoolchildren on “road safety guard” duty near schools, as well as be present in busy traffic locations in order to insure increased road safety. The first stage of activity will be done voluntarily, but if a decision is made to expand the activities a salary will be paid.
The intersections chosen for the first stage of activities are in the vicinity of the following schools: Hashmonaim, Yerushalaim, Bait VaGan, Orot HaTora, Beit Yaakov and David Elazar Sokolov.
The initiative is the brainchild of Doron Landoi who is a volunteer strategic consultant for “Eyes on Road,” the organization for the promotion of road safety. The results of the pilot will be presented this week to senior staff members of the Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor, Mr. Binyamin Ben Eliezer.
The pilot preparation meetings were attended by representatives from the National Road Safety Authority, Israeli Police Traffic Department, “Eyes on Road” and “Or Yarok” associations, and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor.
The initiative was founded by the “Eyes on Road” association. Characterization and preparation for the pilot were carried out by Yechiel Montag, Amir Harpaz and Dafna Grotto from “Eyes on Road”, with participation of Dr. Varda Levanon and Netanel Hai Yosef from “Or Yarok”, as well as cooperation and coordination with the head of the municipal road safety administration, Zahi Ben Gigi.
The current city management, in cooperation with the Ministry of Transportation, has invested millions of Shekels over the past five and a half years to promote road safety across the city. Furthermore, a municipal safety administration was set up three years ago by Mayor Shlomi Lahyani in order to reduce the number of road accidents and promote transportation safety. This was done in cooperation with the new National Road Safety Authority.
The municipal safety administration operates in a coordinative manner to reduce the number of accidents by improving road infrastructure, enforcing traffic laws and carrying out educational activities. This investment clearly bears fruits: Bat Yam experienced a 25% decrease in the number of road accidents and a 35% decrease in the number of accident casualties.