"Money-grabbing machine" or a life-saving step: The speed camera revolution — and the fear of "wholesale license revocations"

The decision of the Israel Police Traffic Division published today (Sunday), under which a driver could receive a ticket even for exceeding the speed limit by only a few kilometers per hour, is sparking an active public and legal debate. Alongside those who welcome what is a true revolution, there are those who warn of the public's lack of readiness for the drastic change — and even accuse the police of financial motives.

"Not a shekel goes to us from these fines. Take your foot off the gas — and you won't get tickets," said Chief Superintendent Shimi Marciano, head of the Research and Development Department at the Traffic Division. The police decision significantly lowers the enforcement thresholds for speed cameras and puts into effect a legal amendment that moves a significant portion of traffic offenses to administrative channels — a change that even led to a petition to the Supreme Court.

Attorney Elon Oron, author of the Traffic Encyclopedia and former chairman of the National Traffic Committee at the Israel Bar Association, who petitioned the Supreme Court against the amendment, warned: "An unusual load is expected in court due to the panic and fear that will grip drivers, who are expected to face wholesale license revocations." According to him, the cases will not reach the court but a judge who will decide without questioning witnesses. "The goal is to extract maximum money from every photo, which is easy money because the tickets are sent without delay, and the police will enforce with a lot of motivation because of the fines and the revenues that will easily bring them tens of millions of shekels. The Administrative Traffic Offenses Law is a fatal blow to the right of access to justice. Instead of 'offense', it is now called 'violation', and the right to defend oneself is denied. This is a reform that means an industry of money-grabbing, mandatory courses, and license revocation without the ability to defend oneself."

At the Or Yarok association, they welcomed the deepening of enforcement but emphasized the need to prepare the public. Attorney Yaniv Yaakov, CEO of Or Yarok, noted that "speed cameras have proven themselves in the world and in Israel as a factor that reduces accidents, but the step must be accompanied by public awareness and preparation. The cameras must be placed on roads where there is a direct link between speeding and accidents, and be prominent and signposted. Police data show that 40% of fatal accidents in 2024 were caused by speeding. The more prominent the cameras are and the better they are signposted on 'red' roads, the more drivers will know to slow down, and the goal of the cameras to reduce speed will be achieved, and it will not be a money-grabbing machine."

"The citizen is responsible — not the police"

The police strongly rejected the claims of financial motives and emphasized that the enforcement is entirely focused on reducing traffic accidents. Chief Superintendent Shimi Marciano clarified the operational concept: "Drivers should not put the police in a position where it is the problem. Drive according to the law and the speed limit and you will get home safely. Not a shekel goes to the Israel Police from these fines; I wish we would reach only 100 tickets at the end of the year." He added that "the citizen is responsible, not the police. Take your foot off the gas and you won't get tickets. My goal is that after you get the fine, you won't make a mistake again. A few kilometers per hour more kill not only the driver, but other people on the road, and we see this in thousands of wounded."

Regarding the change in legal procedures and the expansion of deployment, Marciano said that every ticket is documented with a photo, so following life-threatening offenses, it was decided that the ticket cannot be appealed in the familiar way. "We have moved to administrative offenses and the appeal is submitted via letter. The Israel Police decided to lower the enforcement thresholds to fight the rise in traffic accidents. The State of Israel will increase the number of cameras to 1.1 cameras per 100,000 people to lower travel speeds and reduce the number of dead and wounded."