W
hen the town leaders took responsibility for a dead body found in a field they sent out a message that we’re all accountable for the welfare of any person who crosses our path. So how can we drive recklessly endangering those around us? Can we really say “Our hands didn’t spill this blood”?
For me it’s something that never loses its shock value: how the death toll onIsrael’s roads has surpassed the number of people killed by Palestinian terrorists. The most shocking part is that the latest victims of the road intifada weren’t sent to the Heavenly realms by human error on their part but by crimes of negligence. It’s horrifying to read about the circumstances of these crashes. People who obviously view the law as a joke are behind the wheel ignoring red lights speeding passing on curves and doing whatever else they please while the judges who let them off perpetrate the worst crime of all. Are the rights of the driver more hallowed than those of the victim left to vegetate in a hospital — that is if he’s still alive? It’s infuriating to hear about the driver with hundreds of traffic violations on his record being allowed back on the road after a mere slap on the wrist from a “kind” judge who is actually cruel. And only after he’s killed an entire family does the judge finally put the driver’s human rights aside and give him the prison sentence he deserves. And we’re not even talking about texting while driving….
I was in a taxi last week when the driver exclaimed “Look at that man in the car next to us how he’s zigzagging on the road. He’s busy texting.” I glanced out and saw all the drivers in his periphery taking extra care because a collision was almost inevitable.
The offending driver was identifiable as a chareidi by his dress and appearance. I wanted to scream at him “Aren’t you afraid of having an accident of killing someone or being killed chalilah? Did you invent some kind of new halachah that says you don’t have to abide by traffic laws? Have you got some special protection from the Almighty guaranteeing that ‘it won’t happen to me’?”
