Road Safety Country Profiles
Israel 2023

Overview
Israel recorded 351 road deaths in 2022, 1.7% above the pre-Covid-19 period. The traffic volumes
resumed at the 2019 level. The most significant increase was recorded among the powered twowheeler users, mainly due to their use as a means of transport.
Quick facts: Israel (all data from 2022, unless otherwise stated)
Population

9.7 million

GDP per capita

USD 54 029
20 571

Road network

Rural roads

Motorways

57%

9%

33%

4.0 million

Total numberof motor
vehiclesVolumetraffic

Urban roads

of

Cars

Motorcycles

Goods vehicles

Buses

87%

4%

8%

1%

+75.4% (2000-21)
Urban roads

Rural roads

Motorways

80, 90 km/h

100, 110, 120 km/h

Speed limits

30-50 km/h (70arterial roads)

Limits on blood
alcohol content

General drivers

Professional drivers

Novice drivers

0.5 grams/litre (g/l)

0.1 g/l

0.1 g/l

km/h

351
Road fatalities

Pedestrians

Cyclists

Car occupants

Motorised twowheelers

Other
and
unknown

31%

6%

29%

22%

11%

Road fatalities
per 100 000
population

3.6

Road fatalities
per 10 000
vehicles0.9

Cost of roadcrashes

1.2% of GDP (2016-2018)

Short-term trends
Mobility and road safety in Israel were significantly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic that hit
the world in 2020. Figure 1 illustrates the number of road deaths in 2020, 2021 and 2022 comparedto the linear trend before the pandemic. It shows that road death figures for 2020 were very much
below the trend.
Due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on mobility and road crashes, the data for 2020 and
2021 represent a poor reference point for benchmarking. Therefore, for short-term trends, thisreport compares data for 2022 and 2021 with the average for 2017-19.
Israel recorded 351 road deaths in 2022, an increase of 1.7% compared with the average for 201719 (Table 1). The traffic volumes in 2022 resumed to the level of 2019.
Table 1. Road fatalities in Israel, 2017-2022
2017

2018

2019

Average2017-19

2020

2021

2022

2022 compared withaverage 2017-19

January

38

27

29

31

24

16

26

-17.0%

February

25

35

28

29

22

29

30

2.3%

March

21

23

25

23

18

27

31

34.8%

April

33

20

25

26

21

47

34

30.8%

May

30

26

23

26

27

28

37

40.5%

June

46

20

29

32

26

36

23

-27.4%

July

38

22

33

31

31

26

20

-35.5%

August

21

21

31

24

39

29

32

31.5%

September

29

17

24

23

27

34

25

7.1%

October

32

43

38

38

24

35

32

-15.0%

November

28

35

28

30

14

25

29

-4.4%

December

23

27

42

31

32

32

32

4.3%

Total

364

316

355

345

305

364

351

1.7%

Car occupants are the only user category which registered a decrease (-6.7%). The number ofroad deaths increased by 8.4% for pedestrians, 8.2% for cyclists and 37.8% for users of powered
two-wheelers. The increase in the number of motorcyclists killed was due to the increase inregistered motorcycles and their more and more widespread use.
A significant decrease (-55.3%) in road deaths was recorded for young people aged 15-17.
However, road deaths increased by 20.5% and 13.4% for the 21-24 and the 18-20 (Figure 2).
In 2022, Israel had a road mortality rate of 3.6 deaths per 100 000 people. The fatality rate was 0.9
road deaths per 10 000 registered vehicles. The fatality risk in 2021 was 5.7 road deaths per billion
vehicle-kilometres (Figures 3, 4 and 5).
In 2022, pedestrians accounted for 31% of all road deaths (Figure 6).
Older people above 75 are the most at risk, followed by those aged 21-24 (see Figure 7).

Figure 1. Road fatalities in Israel in 2020, 2021 and 2022 compared to the linear trend since
2012
380
364
360

351

340

320
305
300

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Road deaths

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

Trends 2012-2022

Figure 2. Evolution of road fatalities in Israel by user category and age group, 2022
compared to the average 2017-19
40
20
0
-20
-40

User category

Age group
Total number of road deaths

75+

65-74

25-64

21-24

18-20

15-17

0-14

PTW

Passenger cars

Cyclists

Pedestrians

-60

0

Iceland

Slovenia

Colombia

Chile

Costa Rica*

SerbiaArgentina

United States*

Hungary

New Zealand

Korea

1

IsraelGreece*Belgium

Luxembourg

Canada*FrancePoland*Czechia

Lithuania

Netherlands

Italy

Australia

Colombia

Costa Rica

United States

Chile

Argentina

SerbiaNew Zealand

GreecePortugal

Luxembourg

Hungary

Italy

Korea

PolandCzechia

FranceCanadaBelgium

Lithuania

Australia

Netherlands

Austria

Slovenia

Spain

IsraelFinlandGermany

Ireland

Sw itzerland

United Kingdom

DenmarkJapan

Iceland

4

Austria

Germany

Spain

Denmark

United Kingdom

Finland

Sw itzerland

Japan

Sw eden

Sw edenNorw ay0

Norw ay

Figure 3. Road fatalities per 100 000 inhabitants in Israel compared to other IRTAD
countries, 2022

16

12

8

3.6

Figure 4. Road fatalities per 10 000 registered vehicles in Israel compared to other IRTAD
countries, 2022
5

4

3

2

0.9

Note: in Belgium, Denmark, Germany and Hungary, registered vehicles do not include mopeds. * 2021 data.

0Czechia

PolandUnited States

Korea

New Zealand

Slovenia6

IsraelFranceJapan

Austria

Netherlands

Finland

Australia

CanadaGermany

Great Britain

Ireland

Sw itzerland

Sw edenDenmark

Iceland

Norw ay

Figure 5. Road fatalities per billion vehicle-kilometres in Israel compared to other IRTAD
countries, 2021
12

9

5.7

3

Figure 6. Road fatalities in Israel by user category, 2022

Others incl. unknow n 11%
Pedestrians 31%

Passenger car occupants 29%

Cyclists 6%
Moped riders 1%
Motorcyclists 21%

Figure 7. Road fatality rate in Israel by user category and age group, 2022
Rate per 100 000 population in the same age group
8

6

4

2

0

0-14

15-17

18-20

21-24

25-64

65-74

Pedestrians

Moped riders

Passenger car occupants

Cyclists

Motorcyclists

Other users incl. unknow n

75+

Road safety data 2012-22
Between 2012 and 2022, the number of road deaths fluctuated between 290 (2012) and 377(2016), with no clear trend. During the same period, the number of registered motor vehicles
increased by 43.9% (Table 2 and Figure 8)
In 2022, road deaths were 21% higher than in 2012. The number of users of powered twowheelers killed in traffic more than doubled from 39 in 2013 to 79 in 2022. The increase spreadover the decade and is not only related to the strong increase in the past three years. The numberof road deaths also increased for cyclists (83.3%) and pedestrians (18.7%). It slightly decreased
for car occupants (-1.9%) (Figure 9).
While the number of fatalities decreased for children aged 0 to 17, it increased for all the otherage groups.

Table 2. Crash, casualty and traffic data in Israel, 2012-22
2012

2020

2021

Evolution
2012-222022

Reported safety data
Fatalities

290

305

364

351

21.0%

Injury crashes

12 484

10 83411 55010 404-16.7%

Injured persons hospitalised

1 611

2 072

2 458

2 607

61.8%

Deaths per 100 000 population

3.7

3.3

3.9

3.6

-0.9%

Deaths per 10 000 registered vehicles

1.1

0.8

0.9

0.9

-15.9%

Deaths per billion vehicle-kilometres

5.8

5.5

5.7

5.3

-8.0%

Pedestrians

91

83

98

108

18.7%

Cyclists

12

26

23

22

83.3%

Moped riders

12

2

5

5

-58.3%

Motorcyclists

27

66

81

74

174.1%

Passenger car occupants

104

103

125

102

-1.9%

Other road users

44

25

32

40

-9.1%

0-14 years

32

25

27

29

-9.4%

15-17 years

15

13

11

7

-53.3%

18-20 years

19

18

38

31

63.2%

21-24 years

23

39

37

45

95.7%

25-64 years

135

138

173

164

21.5%

65-74 years

28

28

37

34

21.4%

≥ 75 years

30

42

38

41

36.7%

Urban roads

119

142

138

126

5.9%

Roads outside urban areas

171

163

226

225

31.6%

Vehicle kilometres (million)

50 10755 12164 00165 90031.5%

Registered vehicles (thousands)

2 761

3 689

3 840

3 974

43.9%

Registered vehicles per 1 000 population

349.0

400.4

406.2

411.3

17.8%

Fatalities by road user

Fatalities by age group

Fatalities by road type

Traffic data

Figure 8. Evolution of road fatalities, motorisation, traffic and GDP in Israel, 2012-22
Index 2012 = 100

140

120

100

2012

2013

2014

Fatalities

2015

2016

Injury crashes

2017

2018

Motor vehicles

2019

2020

Vehicle-km

2021

2022

GDP

Figure 10. Evolution of road fatalities in Israel by user category and age group, 2012-2022
100

50

0

User category

Age group
Total number of road deaths

75+

65-74

25-64

21-24

18-20

15-17

0-14

PTW

Passenger cars

Cyclists

Pedestrians-50

Safety performance indicators
Speed
Inappropriate speed is one of the main causes of road crashes. According to EU
recommendations for Safety Performance Indicators, Israel measures the compliance of vehicles
travelling within the speed limits. More than 50% of Israeli drivers exceed the speed limit on all
types of roads except motorways, urban arterial and rural local roads. In particular, noncompliance was high on single carriageways not divided (1 on 1) roads and on urban maincollectors. The non-compliance rate has reached 76% for urban main collectors, and for notdivided single carriageways on rural roads, it is 69%. However, in-depth analysis has shown thata large part of the increase in non-compliance on these types of roads was due to changes in sites
sampled.
Table 3 summarises the main speed limits for passenger cars in Israel.
Table 3. Passenger car speed limits by road type in Japan, 2023
General speed limit

Comments

Urban roads

30-50 km/h

70 km/h on arterial roads

Rural roads

80,90 km/h

Motorways

100, 110, 120 km/h

Drink driving
The extent of drink driving was long underestimated and not recognised as a major problem.
This perception has now changed. Police have increased roadside alcohol checks and testing fordrivers involved in crashes. Conservative estimates indicate that alcohol is a contributing factor
in 7-15% of fatal crashes.
The maximum authorised BAC is 0.5 g/l for general drivers. This limit is lowered to 0.1 g/l for
drivers under 24, novice drivers for the first two years after receiving their licence andprofessional and public transport drivers.
According to the findings of ESRA (E-Survey of Road Users' Attitudes) from 2023, 7.5% of Israelis
self-reported that they drove after drinking over the legal limit for alcohol consumption anddriving.

Drugs and driving
Drivers are not routinely checked for drugs. The Israeli police are currently working on creating
a routine check-up for this matter. In the case of fatal crashes, all involved parties are tested for
drug use. Fatalities due to drugs and driving are estimated at 3% per year.
According to the findings of ESRA (E-Survey of Road Users' Attitudes) from 2023, 10.4% of Israelis
self-reported that they drove within 2 hours after taking medications that might affect their abilityto drive, and 4.4% reported that they have driven within one hour after taking drugs (other thanprescribed or over-the-counter medication).

Use of mobile phones while driving
An increasing problem for traffic safety in Israel is distraction, for instance, through the use ofsmartphones while driving. Driving while operating a hands-free mobile phone is legal, but notwith a hand-held phone. In 2018, the National Road Safety Agency (NRSA) started monitoring
smartphone usage, including reading and writing text messages. The NRSA is also developing
Safety Performance Indicators for this issue (see Resources).

Fatigue
The share of sleepiness and fatigue as a causal factor in crashes is challenging to detect.
According to ESRA's (E-Survey of Road Users' Attitudes) findings from 2023, 25.7% of respondents
admitted to having driven when they were so sleepy that they had trouble keeping their eyes
open. Regarding professional drivers, Israel is adhering to the AETR agreement andimplementing the digital tachograph (DG) in international and domestic traffic. The adoption of
DG will allow enforcement of existing rest-hours regulations and the development of appropriate
SPI.

Seat belt and helmet use
Seat belt use has been compulsory in front seats since 1975 and in rear seats since 1995.
Dedicated child restraint use is mandatory for children up to eight years old. Children in their firstyear must sit in a rear-facing restraint. Children aged one to three must sit in a forward-facing
restraint. Children aged three to eight must be seated in a booster seat. The NRSA has issued
stricter recommendations for children up to age two to sit in a rear-facing child restraint, children
between two and five in a forward-facing restraint, and children aged five to ten in a booster seat.
In 2019, the seat belt use rate was 94% for drivers, 91% for front seat passengers and 71% for rearseat passengers. For children, according to a 2016 roadside survey, the overall usage rate of
dedicated child restraint systems was 87%. However, only 50% of children were correctly buckled
up.
Helmet use is compulsory for all motorcycle and moped riders. The rate of use by motorcyclists
is close to 100% but varies according to riding conditions (alone or in a group), the rider's age,
the type of site, the size of the town, etc.
Helmets are compulsory for child cyclists and adults on non-urban roads. A 2013 roadside survey
found that over 90% of cyclists wear helmets outside urban areas. As of July 2019, helmet wearing
has been compulsory when riding an e-bike, regardless of the cyclist's age or the type of road.

Table 4. Seat belt and helmet wearing rates in Israel
Percentages
2017

2019

Driver90

94

Passenger

89

91

General

70

71

Motorcyclists

~100

..

Front seats

Rear seats

HelmetCost of road crashes
Traffic crashes represent a significant cost for society, with an estimated average for 2016-2018
at around ILS 15.8 billion, representing 1.2% of GDP.
The methodology for assessing road crash costs was developed in 2004 using a combination of
all available data sources. The injury and crash cost values were recently updated. The humanand material costs were updated based on the change in real GDP from 2012 to 2019, exchange
rates as they appeared at the year-end of 2019 and changes in estimates that happened in othercountries. Calculations are based on crash data from the Israeli police, hospitals and othersources.
Crash costs include direct and indirect costs, including loss of productivity due to a fatal or severe
injury and productivity loss for close family members; medical expenses; assistance and nursing
care; work disability; property damage costs; time lost due to traffic congestion caused by thecrash; administrative costs; damage to the environment; and an approximation of costs of griefand suffering.
Table 5. Cost of road crashes in Israel, 2016-2018
Unit Cost (ILS)

NumberTotal cost (ILS)

Fatalities

9.15 million

368

3.37 billion

Seriously injured

2.39 million

3 499

1.46 billion

Slight injuries

0.18 million

6 192

1.11 billion

0.025

78 4801.96 billion

Slight injuries without hospitalisation
Property damage costs of injury crashes

0.96 billion

Total

..

..

15.76 billion

Total as % of GDP

..

..

1.8 %

Road safety management and strategy
Evolution of road safety
The number of road fatalities peaked in 1974, with 704 road deaths. Since then, the number offatalities has decreased by 50%. During the same period, motorisation and traffic have grown
rapidly. Even in recent years, motorisation has continued to expand. Between 2000 and 2021,
registered motorised vehicles more than doubled.
Israel reached its lowest number of road deaths in 2012, with 290 road fatalities. Since 2012, thenumber of road deaths has fluctuated between 309 and 377, with no clear trend.
In recent years, road safety in Israel has significantly been impacted by increased traffic volume,
motorcyclist fatalities, e-bikes and electric scooters, and the growing issue of mobile phone use
while driving.
Five population groups are disproportionately represented in Israeli casualty data: pedestrians,
young drivers under 24, minorities, drivers of heavy vehicles, pedestrians over 75 andmotorcyclists.

Governance of road safety
The national lead agency for road safety is the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), created in2007. The Agency is in charge of:•Advising the Minister of Transport, National Infrastructure and Road Safety, as well as thegovernment on road safety issues;•

Formulating, approving and implementing annual and multiannual work plans toimprove road safety and to set measurable goals to reduce the rates and severity of roadcrashes and injuries;•

Managing the National Information Centre for Road Safety Research and Data;•

Formulating an integrated multiannual plan for promoting road safety in Israel andensuring its implementation;•

Supervising the operations of the local road sign placement authorities;•

Strengthening road safety operations in local councils, including actions to improvetransportation infrastructure and safety measures;•

Developing campaigns to raise public awareness of road safety issues;•

Advising and aiding the school system on road safety;•

Facilitating the strengthening of the traffic law enforcement system.;

The NRSA operates according to a multidisciplinary work plan.

Road safety strategy
In 2019, the NRSA began developing a new national road safety plan until 2030 to guide actions
from all governmental agencies responsible for road safety. Following the 2020 Stockholm
declaration, Israel developed a detailed multi-year national road safety plan to halve the numberof fatalities and severe injuries by 2030 and is currently going through funding assessments.

Latest road safety measures
In 2018, the NRSA launched a prevention programme for minorities, which is being monitored
and improved through formative and evaluative research. It has already demonstrated shortterm effectiveness in its first year.
An important focus of the NRSA is to better protect pedestrians and vulnerable road users
through traffic regulation and speed reduction in urban areas. The NRSA is also working with theIsraeli police to increase traffic enforcement in urban areas with additional police patrols andcameras. A yearly measure of local municipalities' safety performance is conducted to makesafety information accessible to local residents and encourage local governments to address roadsafety issues.
Measures are being developed to manage and regulate the usage of micromobility in urban
areas: accelerated construction of bicycle paths, mandatory helmet wearing for all users ofelectric bicycles, the obligation to complete a driver's knowledge test at 16, the obligation toincrease micro vehicles' visibility and authorising local municipality inspectors to enforce theselaws.

Research and resources
Publications
E-survey of road users' attitudes, Wave 3: https://www.esranet.eu/en/

WebsitesNational Road Safety Authority – Israel:
https://www.gov.il/he/Departments/israel_national_road_safety_authority
Transportation Research Institute – Technion: https://tri.net.technion.ac.il/en/
Central Bureau of Statistics: http://www.cbs.gov.il/reader

Definition, methodology, data collection
Term

Definition

Road death

A person who dies immediately or within 30 days of a crash due to injuries
sustained during the crash.

In Israel, from 1965 until 2012, a seriously injured person was a person injured in a road crashand hospitalised for 24 hours or more (excluding hospitalisation for observation only). As of 2013,
police data has been linked to hospital data. When the casualty is identified in both data sources,
the severity of the injury is defined based on the Maximum Abbreviated Injury Score (MAIS). The
injury is classified as serious when the MAIS score is 3 or higher and as light when it is 1 or 2.
When the police cannot identify the casualty in the hospital data, they classify the injury as serious
if the victim is hospitalised for 24 hours or more (excluding hospitalisation for observation only).
Israeli police collect crash data at the crash scene and send it to the Central Bureau of Statistics.
The NRSA funds both the Traffic Police and the Transportation Unit at the Central Bureau of
Statistics to manage and maintain the system.
Police data are regularly linked with other data sources, such as hospital databases (for fatalities
up to 30 days and injuries), the Trauma Registry, the Ministry of Transportation (driver and vehicle
registries) and the Ministry of Interior (population registry). The crash data cover the entire
population and geographical area of Israel.
In 2014, Israel collected data from 2008-16 using the Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale withscores of 3 or higher (MAIS3+). As of 2013, these data have been integrated into the NRSA
database.
It is assumed that all fatal crashes are reported to the police.

About the IRTAD Database
The IRTAD Database includes road safety data, aggregated by country and year from 1970
onwards. It provides an empirical basis for international comparisons and more effective roadsafety policies.
The IRTAD Group validates data for quality before inclusion in the database. At present, thedatabase includes validated data from 35 countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium,
Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands,
New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United
Kingdom and the United States.
The data is provided in a common format based on definitions developed and agreed by the
IRTAD Group. Selected data is available for free; full online access requires IRTAD membership.
Access the IRTAD Database via the OECD statistics portal:
https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=IRTAD_CASUAL_BY_AGE

About the International Transport ForumThe International Transport Forum (ITF) is an intergovernmental organisation with 66 member
countries that organises global dialogue for better transport. It acts as a think tank for transport
policy and hosts the Annual Summit of transport ministers. The ITF is the only global body thatcovers all transport modes. The ITF is administratively integrated with the OECD, yet politicallyautonomous.
www.itf-oecd.org

About the IRTAD GroupThe International Traffic Safety Data and Analysis (IRTAD) Group is the ITF's permanent working
group for road safety. It brings together road safety experts from national road administrations,road safety research institutes, international organisations, automobile associations, insurancecompanies, car manufacturers, etc. With 80 members and observers from more than 40
countries, the IRTAD Group is a central force in promoting international co-operation on roadcrash data and its analysis.
www.itf-oecd.org/irtad

Disclaimer
The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official
views of International Transport Forum member countries. This document and any map included
herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitationof international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area.
Data in this country profile have been provided by countries to the database of the International
Traffic Safety Data and Analysis (IRTAD) Group. Where data has not been independently validatedby IRTAD, this is indicated.
Read more country profiles online:
https://www.itf-oecd.org/road-safety-annual-report-2023
Last updated: 15 February 2024

© OECD/ITF 2024

Cite this work as: ITF (2024), "Israel: Road Safety Country Profile 2023", OECD Publishing, Paris.

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