When deployment of the new 3A electronic enforcement speed camera system was announced for Israel's highways, the Ministry of Public Security and traffic police said the main aim was deterrence. At the time they said, "God forbid we will 'conceal ambushes' to catch the maximum number of drivers."
In February, Minister of Public Security Yitzhak Aharonvitch explicitly instructed the police to publish the exact locations of speed cameras and stretches they are enforcing, on grounds of transparency and as a public service. Ministry of Public Security director general Yaakov Ganot instructed that the speed cameras should be conspicuous so as to deter, warn and influence drivers to slow down.
Yet an examination of the matter by "Globes" found that these promises are a joke. The Ministry of Public Security site which lists speed cameras is several months out of date. There are some 25 new cameras, put up in the past few weeks, not listed.
In the past two weeks alone new cameras have been placed that could become serious cash cows. For example, a camera on the busy eastbound lane of Road 5 several hundred meters before the Kassem Interchange. Another potential goldmine for the police is a new camera on the westbound lane of Road 77 several hundred kilometers east of the Golani Junction one of the busiest highways in the north, especially at weekends and holidays. Other new cameras in the north include west of the Ein Tzurim Junction, the Halfata Junction of Road 85 between Carmiel and Akko , and on Road 805 en route to Gush Segev.
This is in addition to a slew of new cameras placed in the Greater Tel Aviv area.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 20, 2012
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