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![\"crazy-driver\"](\"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/crazy-driver.jpg\")
<\/a>\nAlthough I had a US driver\u2019s license for over a decade, to receive an Israeli license I was required by the Department of Motor Vehicles to take three driving lessons and then a licensing test. Just as I had done when I was seventeen, on the day of my test I sat nervously at the starting line in a local parking lot as the driving tester got into my car. He took me out onto the pre-rush hour roadways and away we went. \u201cGo straight, turn left, no not here, there!\u201d Ahhhh. Suddenly we were on the highway. About one second before the next exit the tester screamed, \u201cexit here!\u201d I looked in my review mirror at the fast as a bullet moving traffic in the exit lane and told him, \u201cNo! I can\u2019t get in.\u201d We missed the exit. You see, such a lane changing feat would have been no problem for a native Israeli driver. If you have six feet of room you can fit. Just make sure you are moving at the same speed as the cars behind you, because those zooming down the passing lane won\u2019t use their brakes. Despite my failure to follow the tester\u2019s instructions, I passed my road test. The tester told me I could have my license because although I would never be an Israeli driver, at least I probably wouldn\u2019t kill anyone either. Lack of intention to commit vehicular manslaughter was enough to secure me an Israeli license. Yeah! <\/p>\n
Traffic lights in Israel also require some training. Like everywhere else, Israeli signal lights flash the usual red, yellow and green. However, the yellow light serves two purposes. It flashes before a red light as a warning to slow down (no problem, you are aware of this function), but it also flashes before the green light to prepare you to go. If your car is not already propelling forward at high speed at least a millisecond before the street light turns green then get ready for a barrage of car horns from all of the impatient drivers. You are holding them up by not utilizing every second of green go time. But, what happens if someone from the other direction has decided to speed through the yellow to red light on their side? Well, it makes for an unhappy meeting of vehicles in the intersection. My advice: don\u2019t let an Israeli car horn pressure you. <\/p>\n
My husband and I were driving down a street in Tel Aviv and approached a green traffic light turning yellow. My husband slowed to a stop just as the light turned red. Suddenly we heard the sound of screeching tires and watched our lives flash before our eyes. The taxi cab behind us skidded around our car and flew out into the intersection blocking all lanes of traffic. He then got out of his taxi and began yelling at us for almost causing an accident by stopping at the light. Apparently, we should have floored it through the yellow light as he was attempting to do before we stopped. <\/p>\n
Yes, driving in Israel is not for the faint of heart. Israel has many soft, warm and generous sides, but along an Israeli roadway is not the place to find them.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/div><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Nicole Sivan Driving or riding in a motor vehicle in Israel is an experience much like choosing to ride a triple loop roller coaster for the first time. It is slightly exhilarating, a little scary, very fast, and could possibly lead to your demise. Israeli drivers put the pedal to the metal. And, just more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[131],"tags":[227,226,625,228,125],"class_list":{"0":"post-1516","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israeli-life","8":"tag-driving","9":"tag-israel-life","10":"tag-israeli-news","11":"tag-israeli-drivers","12":"tag-news-from-jerusalem","13":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1516"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1520,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1516\/revisions\/1520"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}