Tragic Cyclist Deaths on Israeli Highways Spark Road Safety Debate
Recent tragic deaths of cyclists on Israeli intercity highways have reignited a heated debate regarding road safety, infrastructure gaps, and the legal rights of athletes.
Two consecutive Saturdays ended in tragic fashion: on September 19, Itzik Barashi, a director at the news division of the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation Kan, was killed while cycling on Highway 44 near the Nesharim Interchange; a week later, 47-year-old triathlete Tal Gilboa was killed when a vehicle struck him on Highway 98 in the southern Golan Heights.
The Legal Reality of Intercity Cycling
Following such accidents, the same question always arises: What are cyclists even doing on intercity highways?
The simple answer is that they are legally allowed to be there.
Competitive cycling often involves dozens or even hundreds of kilometers, and road cyclists cannot perform these training sessions solely on urban bike paths. As long as a road is not defined as a highway and there is no specific ban on cycling, cyclists are permitted to use the roadway.
Infrastructure and Safety Statistics
However, the fact that they are allowed to be there does not mean the infrastructure protects them.
According to data from the National Road Safety Authority, between 2015 and 2024, 122 traditional bicycle riders were killed in Israel, and thousands more were severely injured. In 2024 alone, nine riders were killed and 551 were severely injured. These figures do not include electric bicycles and scooters.
Nimrod Dubinsky, head coach at TACC, a Tel Aviv cycling club, and coordinator of the cycling coaching course at the Wingate Institute, speaks about the various ways cyclists try to protect themselves, such as using prominent flashing lights. Nimrod adds that in the training sessions he leads, a backup escort vehicle drives behind the group to shield them from traffic.
Shared Responsibility on the Road
The expectation that cyclists protect themselves does not reduce the responsibility of drivers on the road. According to suspicion, the driver who struck Tal Gilboa was under the influence of alcohol. The responsibility between the parties is asymmetrical. A driver who takes their eyes off the road, passes too closely, or drives at excessive speeds can turn a split-second mistake into a fatal incident.
Barashi and Gilboa were not riding on a forbidden highway. They were engaging in sport where the law permits them to do so.
In other countries, authorities attempt to mitigate the risk through strict rules: in the UK, for example, the Highway Code instructs drivers to leave at least 1.5 meters when overtaking a cyclist at speeds up to approximately 48 km/h, and to leave an even greater distance at higher speeds. If overtaking safely is not possible, the directive is to wait behind the cyclist.
Now it remains to be seen whether anyone in Israel will step up and lead a change to safeguard the lives of cyclists.
