Info About Israeli Driving License: Failed Your Exam Twice?

Image from www.freevector.com

Great news! Yesterday MK Dov Lipman succeeded in passing a law through the Knesset that many Olim have been waiting for, for a very long time!

Here's the scenario as things stood until yesterday:

When arriving in Israel, you could (can) drive legally for a period of one year even if you do not yet have an Israeli driver's license. After a year, you must have obtained your Israeli license. You could / can do this by hiring an qualified teacher who will assist you to get to grips with Israeli traffic law as well as get a feel for traffic here. Thereafter once you've done a few lessons to show your competency, the teacher will book a test for you. You go through to the testing grounds, have an inspector drive around with you through various places and thereafter get your license... or not! Sometimes your driving might not meet the standards for Israeli law. This does not mean you can't drive. It means you did not meet the standards. After all - let's not forget, you've already been allowed to drive in Israel for at least a year without any supervision of your competency!

Israeli law is still "good" to one in allowing one to undergo another test! Great! Now you go for the test and finally get your license... or not! Once you fail twice, you must go through the full gamut of licensing. This includes learning the theory, passing that test - and then starting all over again. This might mean further lessons (on average some ₪100 a lesson currently), booking the test and going through it all over again. Let's just hope for the best because nobody wants to go through another two fails to see where things go from there!

The entire law has been set up haphazardly - after all, as Mr Dov Lipman pointed out - how can it be that the law would allow one to drive for a year here without any testing, yet fail an experienced driver - forcing them to have to go through the entire process from beginning to end again?! As a result, the law was passed! What does this mean?

New law: If you fail your test twice, you will no longer have to go through the theory and start from the beginning again. By all means, do another lesson or two to get a better feel. Then try again! Don't forget - you're not incompetent! You've probably been driving for many many years already! It's just that as with everything, there's a system here. Fortunately a lot has been cut out with this new law and there's some room to breathe again!

Now, let's just hope and pray - for those who have not yet made Aliyah - that one day soon, the law will allow for one to simply transfer the license - or if not that - at most to require just a couple of lessons to gain some familiarity with Israeli roads, and thereafter receive one's license based solely on the credit of having done the one / two short lessons!

Fines for using a Cellphone while Driving in Israel

Someone on a social network forum asked about the law and fines if using a cell phone when driving.

I often see such questions and find answering them of little benefit. Mostly the questioner is more interested in finding a loophole in the law than in considering potential consequences to life if / when not following that law.

It's more than the law, it's common sense. Don't use a cell phone while driving! Not if you value your life and the lives of others. If you think I'm being difficult, my introduction to the dangers of cell phones and driving was 20 years ago as an occupational therapist in a hospital. I was on a ward round and sad to hear the cause of a new high level spinal cord injured patient was a selfish driver in the vehicle behind the one that he was a passenger in. The driver had decided that talking on a cell phone was more important than paying attention to the vehicle  in front of him, loaded with labourers on their way to work.

A more recent example was just a week ago of a young woman who lost her life due to texting and taking selfies while driving. In this case it was only the driver, (responsible for her own life), who lost her life. We surely know that the news reports of similar incidents where many others lose their lives or functional ability, ending up in wheelchairs, bedridden, in lengthy coma's etc.

Isn't it amazing what a perverted society we have become where instead of being concerned about the risk to life and quality of life for ourselves and others we are more afraid of breaking the law and getting a ticket.  

Renting in Israel - Draconian Conditions - The Wild West!

You may have already read a recent post on this blog, "Radio Interview: The Costs of Renting in Israel - From a View of a Minister of the Knesset." We saw how the rental situation in Israel is currently out of control. In short, there are no laws to keep rental costs in any kind of balance. Landlords are given permission to charge what they like - when they like. The tenant is warned in the strongest of terms "caveat emptor" - or "let the buyer beware!" In our case - let the renter beware. A Minister of the Knesset - Minister Hilik Bar spoke out in the strongest of terms regarding the desperate situation renters find themselves in with prices what they are - and that even for someone like himself, he could see no way of buying an apartment for himself given the massive amounts of money needed to even make a start - to one's start!

Recently another Minister of the Knesset, Stav Sapir - came out as well in the strongest of terms regarding the "Wild West" situation of the rental situation in Israel. This time, it's not only the awful situation of costs that are involved, but the fact that landlords are practically given permission to treat their tenants in any way they wish. Indeed, renting an apartment without proper running water, electricity and various other dangers(!) can be the norm. As pointed out on www.jersualemonline.com, "...hundreds and thousands of Israelis and (sic) forced to live in apartments that are missing even the most basic of accommodations." The situation is indeed desperate, and more needs to be done to ensure that there is a measure of honesty from the landlord who is actually being paid by his tenant for the right to have a normal in-working-condition apartment.

Famous other problems - never to be attended to by the landlord - include wide open areas allowing doves to fly into the home, build nests and breed a new family, exposing of electric wires (an actual life threatening situation!,) unleveled floors (another opening for an accident,) allowing neighbours to build "at the expense" of the landlord's tenants who must forgo use of parts of their apartment during building, broken shutters (a building fault, not just needing a change of strap,) not allowing tenants to hang their own paintings on the walls, non-working radiators or yunkers (established as part of the contract), rental of broken, old furniture indicating the apartment as rented with furniture(!) It is clear, landlords have a monopoly. The tenant has no choice but to sign a contract which gives the landlord full rights to treat his tenant as he wishes. His only other option is to sleep on the street if he finds that living in an apartment without proper windows(!) air(!) water(!) or electricity(!) is not to his liking! Very often landlords will even go so far as to claim that they will indeed attend to the many needs in the apartment - as soon as the contract (Chozeh) is signed, yet you can bet your bottom dollar - that the next day he will have already forgotten his conditions. Writing them down is of course an insult to the landlord who wonders why you cannot simply trust him!

For those living in (normal) homes overseas, almost all have no idea of the circumstances forced upon tenants living in Israel to live in. They cannot believe this is true, often claiming that the law is the law and one may certainly take a landlord to court (at the cost of the tenant who already lacks money!) and have the courts straighten matters. There is a certain ignorance among those living overseas, and I am glad to see the issue finally coming out a lot more in the open in a variety of news sites.

It seems that because there are indeed Ministers of the Knesset themselves affected by these problems, that they are coming out into the open a lot more now and it is vital that the public educate themselves to the reality of the practical oppression to those unable to afford their own homes. Buying in Israel today has become a virtual impossibility for the minimum wage - average - labourer. That being the case, it is vital that proper laws protect the tenant - and more importantly that the public become educated to support the case for honesty in all matters related to rental and rental conditions. Remember - it may well be that you could find yourself in this same situation one day. Better to support the case for honesty in rental today - than to find yourself one day up against it when you may be the one in need!

For a more authoritative view on the problems of the "wild west", see the news in the jerusalemonline.com, "New Law to Protect Renters of Apartments from Draconian Conditions." What a superb word to describe the horror!

Consumer Rights in Israel: Refund Policies

Many who make Aliyah do not realise that they have rights! Rights are available on many fronts. Most notably every person living in Israel has consumer rights. There is a terrific site available for those wanting to know their rights as a consumer. It is in Hebrew with an English version to it (The Israel Consumer Counsil.) The Hebrew (המועצה הישראלית לצרכנות) is especially beneficial when it comes to searching for something you're wondering about. You best be clear on the exact words that will describe the situation you are seeking.

Today's blog post is a winner! That's because one of the rights many are not aware of is being show up here clearly for those who have wondered about it! The law was instituted on the 14 December 2010 - and it's all about refund policies!

The famous question asked by all is, "If I purchase an item and within a short period of time realise it is not what I want, am I entitled to a refund?" The best example to give is when purchasing a faulty item which clearly doesn't work. One can also extend this to purchasing something, arriving home, and realising it's just not what one thought it was. At this point, one has not used the item, it is still in its original packaging and clearly shows that one has not in any intentional (or even unintentional) way broken it (which would bring the blame upon the consumer naturally.)

So here's the deal: You see a fancy looking landline phone you'd like. You purchase it. You plug it in at home, and the quality is simply awful! First point - learning your lesson not to judge a book by its cover! Second point: It doesn't matter what the salesman thinks of the phone - especially when he believes it's the best, nobody else has had problems with it, he uses it himself and is especially not prepared to test it out in the store to show you just how badly it does actually work! The salesman - after all, wants nothing more than to make his sale and walk away with his profit. He's not really interested in you owning a great phone (don't be fooled!) 

Third point - you need a different phone after all! You take the phone back. It's all still brand new. The owner of the store / salesman now looks at it and refuses to refund you.

Rule 1: He may not do this. You mention this to him, so he reluctantly offers you a credit. Rule 2: He may not do this either! In fact, if you have paid cash, he MUST reimburse you cash - no arguments! If you paid on a credit card, he MUST refund you on the SAME credit card. It's really simple! Don't ever let another store trick you into accepting a credit (which you may never use or want - as has actually happened to yours truly. Years later, the ink used on the credit slip even rubbed off!!!)

That's what is great about the consumer rights site. A brief look in at the law shows this up clearly:

קניתי מוצר בחנות והתחרטתי
?האם ניתן לבצע ביטול עסקה ולקבל את כספי חזרה

ב- 14/12/10 יכנסו לתוקף תקנות הגנת הצרכן (ביטול עסקה), המקנות לצרכן את הזכות לבטל עסקאות מסוימות באופן חד צדדי וללא סיבה כלשהי, ולקבל את כספו חזרה.

מדובר בזכות חרטה החלה על עסקאות "צרכניות", השונה מהזכויות האחרות הקובעות בחוק הגנת הצרכן כגון: זכות להתנתק מעסקה מתמשכת, זכות לבטל עסקה בשל הטעיה או ניצול מצוקה, זכות לבטל עסקת מכר מרחוק או עסקה ברוכלות.

מדובר בזכות חרטה ולא בזכות הביטול מכוח חוקים אחרים, שחלים על כל סוגי עסקאות – צרכניות ולא צרכניות : לדוגמה הזכות לבטל עסקה בשל הפרה מהותית של ההסכם, הזכות להחזיר מוצר ולקבל השבה מלאה במקרה של פגם במוצר