Israel grapples with ‘systemic problem’ of fatal road crashes

Traffic deaths dropped by only 4.7% in last decade, compared with a 31% fall worldwide

When Islamic Jihad, the second largest militant group in the Gaza Strip, fired about 1,000 rockets at Israel during an unexpected flare-up of violence earlier this month, most were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defence system, and no Israelis were seriously hurt or killed.

On the country's roads, however, it was a different story. In the same week, 19 people were killed in traffic incidents during a wave of particularly serious crashes.