A short story about the events of last night: Every shift we have at the force, we are having a meeting in which the force commander is giving us all the missions and safety instructions before we are heading outside. (Dan knows this procedure for sure). Just before this meeting, one of our units which was heading to the station had an accident right below the station with another car, and sent two of our officers to hospital and the car itself is damaged and no longer usable. (I’ve added a photo of it as well so you will see) Fast forward towards 3AM this morning (or night, you choose). My partner and I are heading back to the station (I’m driving) with my strobe lights on. We are reaching a junction in which we have a green light. I’m entering the junction in a regular speed while my partner and I are chatting. Suddenly my partner shouts “watch out!” My instincts as a rider and police officer kicked in and I slammed the brakes right before a vehicle (left turner) crashes into us and thank god we’ve managed to escape and avoid the collision. We pulled over this car to find an 18 y/o girl behind the wheel frightened from the situation alongside two other girls with her. During our conversation with her, she told us that they just finished their shift, she is exhausted and didn’t noticed that the green light in her side was for forward traffic only while left turn was still red light for her. Due to the circumstances, we’ve released her without a fine (which could’ve led to revoking her driver’s license and confiscation of her car alongside the high fine fees), but talked to her dad and told him that either him Or someone else will arrive and drive her home as we do not allow her to proceed in her current condition. This event could’ve easily send my partner and I to the hospital as well as another cruiser not usable anymore AT THE SAME SHIFT!!! Bottom line of this story: Even with our left turner system, avoiding left turners situation is not 100% foolproof, and even riding \ driving with the most highly visible equipment (in our case a full high vis strobe lights in a police cruiser) will not save you in these situations.

So I’m dropping one more thing which is more unique to our country (I think) but at the same time feels much safer than the regular system in most countries. While in most of the countries you need to turn left while there is oncoming traffic is moving as well on the opposite side, and you need to wait until you can go, we have a dedicated traffic lights for left turns which goes green only when the oncoming traffic from opposite side has red light. There are junctions which the left turns on both sides is green, so only left turn is permitted at the duration of it, and the forward traffic is halted. We are prohibited to turn right on red lights, but we do have a dedicated right turn lanes on most places which you can go without waiting for a traffic light, but you must give pedestrians the right to cross in case there are any, and you must yield for the merging lane to be free as well. I’ve added a photo for each scenario to visualize it for you guys :) Let me know if this system sounds safer for you, or just annoying 😆

So Dan started an interesting conversation today about how the licensing system works in the USA and the UK, and I wanted to share how the system works for us in Israel: So let’s start with the basics: We have 3 levels of licenses for motorcycles here - 1) The most basic one is called A2. You can get this permit from the age of 16, and it grants you the access to all kinds of motorcycles up to 125cc \ 14kW engines. 2) The middle class permit is called A1. This permit can be achieved only once you reach the age of 18, and it grants you the ability to ride all motorcycles up to 500cc \ 33kW engines. 3) Lastly you have the A permit which you can ride whatever. But in order to get it, you MUST own a motorcycle for at least 1 year, get experience with it, and only then you can apply to it. All of the above (except the last one) requires to pass a theory test. and all of the above (including the last one) requires you to pass a course with the motorcycle + get into the real road with the instructor \ examiner and pass the real world test. There are two exceptions though: 1) if you already own a B license (vehicles up to 3500KG, or 4000KG for those with licenses before 2006), you can skip the theory exam and take only the course and road exams for the A2 license. 2) if you are already 18 and has a B license, you can skip the theory exam, and get an A1 permit right away skipping the A2 step. There is one more exception which is applied to all license permits: In case you did your permit on an automatic motorcycle \ scooter, your license permit will be limited to Automatic only! And one more thing - you must have your motorcycle checked yearly at an official tests institute. I hope this info will be useful for you all 😁

A local group of riders had a Canada Day ride, and we were all supposed to wear Hawaiian shirts.

I went to meet up with some old friends who I haven't hung out with in decades (was nice) and afterward I went for a quick little ride before heading home. I got home and realized my fluorescent green safety vest wasn't on my jacket, or on my bike! I KNEW I had it because I went home earlier to get it as it was getting chilly by the beach and I knew it was going to get dark soon. So I jumped in my car to go look and went back to the beach where I figured it must've fell off when I went to put the jacket on before heading out. It wasn't there. I even asked some people if they seen it. "nope". So I said, ok... maybe it fell off while I was riding somehow... The further I drove, the less hope I had. I drove at least 6-7 miles before I found it. I can't even believe I was riding around with the vest that MUST HAVE BEEN dangling for 6-7 miles. How it didn't end up getting tangled up in the back rim, or caught in the belt is truly a miracle. I am sooooooo blessed. God is better to me than I deserve and I don't know why. I fail Him constantly! But thank you Jesus, my Guardian Angel, and everyone and anyone who prays for my safety! <3