You have my deepest sympathy and my most profound admiration, Bryan. It is impossible to imagine what you are going through. I hope you are able to pass through this most painful stage of your grieving before too long. Thank you for using your pain to help others. May G-d have mercy on you.

May you be blessed Bryan.

I hope that this trajedy will change the frightening daily life myself and others on the road in Israel. My Mother in Law will not even let the children ride their bikes. I am scared on a daily basis. I am so broken harted over this tragic loss of life and it is my hope and prayer that the loss of this family can change this country. G-d bless you Atinsky family.

Bryan, it was hard to read what happened to your family. Hope people who read this adjust their driving habits and tell others. Of course there are a lot of things that can be done. We are only limited by our own imagination. Hope you can make a big difference and impact on our bad driving culture. God bless!

I am very sad for Bryan, and also very deeply moved by his article. I hope that he will continue to fight for this cause in Israel, and that all will support and assist him in it.

The loss of this little family is heart-breaking. I don't know if the story will reach the hearts of those who simply do not care about others and put their own whims and concerns and convenience above the rights and lives of others. I see that kind of behavior in the US, too, but to a lesser degree. I met an airline pilot on my last trip to Tel Aviv, and he told me that he left Israel and moved to the US because he felt that Israel had developed a culture of selfishness and self-absorption. I hope that this changes.

see and read this article. This tragedy, like so many before, illustrates the wide cultural differences between 'Anglos' and 'Natives'. While Anglos may take this as a call to arms, native Israelis see tragic accidents as something else that just happens to others and that they are as unavoidable as military deaths. Condolences to you.

May your family rest in peace. Their lives were not taken in vain.

My heartfelt sympathies to you Bryan. I am so saddened to hear of your loss. May G-d provide you with the strength and courage to continue in life.

Your words have gone straight to my heart. You are absolutely correct concerning Israeli driving culture. Please God may the situation change.

Police should have a hotline of reckless drivers. They should investigate a suspected reckless driver from his home to work and cite him for multiple violations at once. In that way they can establish a behavior pattern and warn him, and remove him from the road permanently before he kills.

While I understand the urge for 'draconian' penalties, what we really need are more frequent penalties and, therefor, the expectation of penalties. If we only increase the amount of the fines - something quick & easy for politicians to do - the randomness & infrequency of enforcement will still bring a feeling of unfairness; and people naturally resist systems that are fundamentally unfair. Brian: Ha'makom yenachem et'chem b'toch she'ar avelei tziyon vi'Yerushalayim.

Bryan is right. There is a blatant disregard for traffic laws in Israel. Enforcement by police and, equally important, the follow through by the court system are essential to changing this behavior. With regards to illegal parking, or the stopping and double parking of cars in areas where it is illegal, too often I see police officers start to write a ticket, and the vehicle owner rushes to move the car and the officer lets them go. NO! If they double park on a busy street during rush hour, they MUST get the ticket. If they block a sidewalk, sending pedestrians into the street to fight busy traffic, they MUST get a ticket. Simply telling them to move the car does not deter the action in the future. The first step is simple and it does not require an increase in the police budget. The police should adopt a ZERO TOLERANCE policy for parking, especially in certain areas and a certain times of the day, and also for traffic behavior that rises to a certain level. This can occur TODAY! As a second step, budgets for traffic enforcement can be increased. However, simply increasing the budget without changing the culture within the police department will not result in meaningful change. Furthermore, the courts need to follow through and give violators serious punishments for serious violations. I have heard of too many suspended sentences for grievous violations, like driving after a license was revoked for dangerous driving (the violator was later involved in a deadly car accident attributed to his negligence). This sends the wrong message to those who try to flaunt the law and undermines the efforts and motivations of police to do serious enforcement. I am very sorry for Bryan about his loss. I also hope, in the name of his family, that it will be the last time such a thing will occur, but this will only happen if we say that change must, and can, start today!

@Yehudi: God will not change the situation, only we can by demanding that the police and government take this situation more seriously and put the manpower, budget and resources necessary to enforce the laws. This article was first published in Hebrew so it is getting to the non-anglo Israelis.... If they listen and act is another question. To all the others, thank you for your support, my situation is hard and heartbreaking and I am in sorrow, but I will do what I can to make their deaths NOT be in vain.

Driving instruction should be taught in school from kindergarten through high school. We've been making cars safer but still using the same crappy old drivers. Teach them something they'll use for the rest of their lives.

My deepest sympathies go out to you.

? are israeli trucks fitted with tacographs....also are the drivers only alowed 8 hrs of driving with rest breaks.

Israeli drivers should be fined 10,000 if they are yapping on their cellphones while driving. I have had bus drives talk while they drive a bus full of people and have seen tons of israelis just yapping on their mobiles while driving. They should smack them with a huge fine the first time and confiscate their vehicle the second time. Freakin' drives me crazy.

Bryan is so right. I am so sorry for you and am worried about my own family every day seeing the way people behave on the roads here in Israel. I myself am Dutch and wish people would drive here more like in Holland. Besides all your great suggestions, i have some more: 1) police should be driving around on most congested and problematic roads and fine people for passing on the right side, for keeping in the left lane, for blinking/hunking in order to pass, etc 2) police should realize that the problem is not only speeding or ignoring stop signs" but the way people pass wildly from lane to lane (often without using directionals). 3) Drivers should be educated from the moment they take their driving lessons. If you teach them how to drive properly from the beginning, chances are they will drive more safely and responsibly. I think this is where part of the problem starts. 4) people that violate traffic should be shown uncensored pictures/movies of accidents and be made clear that this can happen to you. Bryan, I wish you all the strength in the world. marlon gobitz

First, my deepest condolences to Bryan. I read this article and it reminded me of an old idea that could possibly be effective in starting a change here. The idea is to allow community-based law enforcement based on freelance monetary rewards. Example: Each city municipality announces that from now on, every citizen can act as a parking law enforcer for those who park illegally. An unemployed person or freelancer or entrepreneurial type or private business can go around town, take a digital photo of the illegal parked car, upload it to a central database, and place a municipality-issued 500 NIS ticket on the windshield. For each successful fine, the freelancer earns half the fine as commission. As a test run, the idea can be implemented to deter drivers from parking in handicapped spots (which they do, especially in shopping malls.) This way, law enforcement is bolstered without increasing budgets by one shekel. Another idea is to create a website like Platewire.com, which is a community of drivers who capture license plate information of dangerous drivers. This database is shared with the police, who are then focused on catching repeat offenders in their local precincts. Any thoughts or feedback on these ideas would be appreciated.

Bryan, firstly I am terribly sorry for your loss. As an Olah from South Africa I am disgusted at the "road culture" in Israel. This article should be compulsory for all to read and start to make the changes necessay.

We live very close to the car crash location, and every morning on the way to work when we go thrugh the place, we things about you & your lost family & crayin in our harts. Love you & hug you. Be strong

where it is quite difficult to acquire a drivers permit. The police are after you at every turn. They dont have to worry about terrorists, but road terrorists. I have noticed that due to the high immigrant population in montreal, the level of reckless driving has gone up. It must be something in the air of those scoieties whence they came from that makes these creeps simply creeps. They have no regard for other people and other peoples property. As for my fellow Jews, I can only say they are quite good drivers save for the young as-holes you see from the USA who are attending Yeshiva here. They roar up and down the streets till they get caught and are handed hefty fines. In some cases their cars are impounded as well. That usually curbs their enthusiasm.

My heart goes out to you, Bryan. In my opinion, one of the requirements for a driving licence in Israel should be a few hours' volunteer service in a rehabilitation facility for car accident victims. I have lived in Israel for 31 years and my biggest fear has ALWAYS been not the dangers of serving in the Army or being a victim of a terror attack, but the violent road "culture". Alcohol and cellphones have merely amplified an existing ill. Have you been interviewed on Israeli tv talk shows? Are you in Israel? Would you be able to go to speak to high school pupils? I believe that the impact of that personal contact with you would be a potential deterrent and another way to honour the memory of your darling family.

You are very courageous to have written this article in your time of deep pain. Thankyou. My deepest sympathies & condolences to you on the very unfair loss of your beautiful family.

Our deepest condolences. Your story is heart breaking but you are absolute right.. Most drivers do not even know what they are doing while driving. They use cell phones like they are in their office, are not concentrating on driving, and think they are alone in the road. People should be more aware that when you drive a car you need to concentrate on driving and nothing else. Your story confirms that there is much to do to make roads and driving in Israel safe.

In Faroe Island you will have a parking ticket on your car if it´s parking in wrong side. An on a road where many people are driving daed bacause of stupid young drivers in their parents car driving as crasy, some people call police and tell them of this drivers to try to stop them, I am one of them I do it to remember the living person before it is to late. All drivers try to remember the payne you bring in to a family when your driving take lives from other family´s.

Thank you so much for your insightful article. Hopefully, it will help bring about serious changes on the Israeli roads. My heart breaks for you and I have not stopped thinking about you and your family since the story came out.

I propose a national advertising campaign, funded both by voluntary donations and government support, called "Operation Triumph," in which it is pointed out that saving Israeli lives on the roads is the best possible everyday response by ordinary Israelis to Palestinian terrorism - change your driving habits and follow traffic laws to diminish Israeli deaths and triumph over terrorist efforts at random murder. A second initiative might include requiring repeat traffic offenders to devote a week of their sentence to visiting and helping victims of traffic accidents or families mourning the loss of loved ones. Personal contact creates compassion and personalizes their thoughtlessness and self-centeredness.