Issue: July 1997 Artist: Guy Harlap Size: 30.8mm x 30.8mm Plate #: 318, 319, 320 Sheet of 15 stamps Tabs: 5 Printers: Government Printers Printing Method: offset

In general, automobile accidents are caused by a combination of factors: engineering (groundwork), mechanical (automobile), geographic (road, weather conditions, hour of day), or human factors (pedestrian, driver and passenger behavior). Road safety organisations believe that the most significant of these is the human factor.

Fortunately, the road user can be educated to change his behaviour on the road, acquiring more tolerance for others, more consideration, and more respect for the law.

As such, Road Safety Education has become a top priority in Israel's educational system. The task, however, is not easy. In order to cultivate a more thoughtful and considerate driving culture, educators must convey not only rules, but moral principles. Furthermore, road safety deals with difficult situations of life and death, which people tend to avoid confronting concretely. All this places a heavy burden on road safety educators and requires a thoughtful combination of pedagogic techniques.

Two of these are graphics and humour. Social psychology recognizes humour as a means of giving a person strength, pleasure and the capacity to overcome difficult and complicated situations. Since harsh images of road accidents and their consequences may render pupils apathetic and uninvolved, Road Safety educators convey the positive aspects of road safety -- and of life itself.

The Philatelic Service has dealt with the topic of road safety many times throughtout the years, using its educational and promotional resources to produce a series of road safety issues. Presenting the topic of road safety via stamps brings the message home to every household in Israel and the world at large, reaching almost all of Israel's roads users.

The previous series, "Road safety for our children's sake", appeared in 1993 and consisted of three stamps drawn by pupils. The new series presents three stamps with the emphasis on the human factor. The aim is to attract the attention of drivers and their families, and especially of young people, some of whom already drive. The series presents the three most frequent causes of road accidents in Israel: tailgating, lane-weaving, and driving under the influence of alcohol.

Road safety is a national task.