Driving in Israel is an Adventure

During our recent trip, we rented a car for one week. In an effort to keep this blog appropriate and family friendly, I will just say that, upon reflection, Israeli drivers are aggressive and self-centered. Fortunately, I upgraded to a car with automatic transmission, so I did not have to simultaneously master a manual transmission and drive safely. With this post, I will include a couple pictures of our car, a Peugeot 206. The seats were not comfortable for several hours of driving, but the gas mileage was outstanding, and the trunk area was roomier than the pictures suggest.

Back to Israeli drivers: 1. They love to honk! If they think you are not leaving the stoplight fast enough, not driving fast enough, or just feel like you're in their way, they honk. 2. They tailgate. Some of this can be attributed to the short areas in which to pass on a 2 lane road. If you move to one side or the other to show them the line of cars in front of you, they are somewhat appeased, but even when I could see 12 cars ahead of me on a straightaway, a car or two would pull out to pass and get past me and perhaps the car in front of me, before darting in again. 3. Police and ambulances with sirens on and lights flashing are paid almost no heed. One example that really got my blood boiling: I was waiting to turn left (actually, to make a U-Turn to head back to the highway I had missed) and an ambulance was weaving its way through cars stopped at the light in the other direction. If I had turned left OR made a U-Turn when the green arrow came, I would have driven directly in front of the ambulance. So, I waited, and got honked at for not moving when the light turned green. I motioned my arm towards the ambulance less than 100 yards away and the driver put 2+2 together. Another time, during Rush Hour in Tel Aviv, I let a car zipper onto the highway in front of me, but the car behind him tried to get in as well, even though he was even or a little bit behind my car!

So, my advice is this: 1. Don't get bent out of shape 2. Show the other driver why you are not driving faster than you are (e.g. by pulling slightly to the right to let them see the traffic), or 3. Let them pass. The problem with letting them pass though, is that there are always more cars, so as long as I was traveling as fast as the vehicles in front of me, I usually stayed put. 4. Pay attention to signs noting curves ahead, especially yellow signs that say "dangerous curves." Israelis are serious with their switchback curves, especially on the road from Be'er Sheva to the Dead Sea. 5. Never drive faster because of someone behind you. There is always a crazy trying to pass you and the 11 cars in front of you on the short straight aways. 6. Always pay the parking meter! It doesn't matter if it's broken or not. If it is broken, find another place to park where the meter does work. Fortunately, my Be'er Sheva parking ticket was only 100 NIS ($28).