September 26, 2009 – Motorcycles

How many times have I been close to a heart attack because some motorcycle grazes my side-view window while I’m cruising along in Tel Aviv, or appears before me out of nowhere, forcing me to jump on my brakes? I’m so glad to hear the new campaign about cautioning motorcyclists in Israel. Last year when I was in Emergency, the humdrum schedule was broken around ten o’clock after a series of young men were carried in on immobilizing stretchers and the head doctor came through the ward calling, “Okay – motorcyclists strip down to your shorts!” It was like a routine with them, the rush of messengers in the morning, and then, as I’ve been told since, the food deliveries in the evening. Well, that stops on Yom Kippur because the traffic does, and then all you get are the bicycle accidents.