Train crash in Netanya

Every time I think there is nothing to write about today, something happens, often something unfortunate. Today there was a train crash just outside Netanya. Five were killed and about 60 injured. I know the place well, it was a crash waiting to happen. A level crossing is always dangerous, but especially in Israel where cars are always racing to get across just before the gates close and often the wooden gates are broken off. The road to the crossing one way is straight and its easy to see, but coming from Netanya there is a sharp turn in the road just before the crossing, and many cars approach this turn too fast without realising that they may have to come to a sudden stop.
This is apparently how the accident is reported to have happened, a truck stopped at the crossing, but a car behind it did not stop and ploughed into it pushing it onto the tracks. Then the train crashed into the truck and car at top speed. Luckily the train driver and the truck driver both realized what was going to happen and both managed to survive. The driver of the car who caused the accident apparently fled the scene. This will not help his case.
This track is the main Haifa to Tel Aviv route that is the busiest in Israel and runs from as far north as Nahariya and south to Ashdod and Beersheva. Our daughter Miriam was in a similar accident that happened at a level crossing further south exactly one year ago. In that accident 2 were killed, and luckily Miriam was not injured. You would think that something might have been done about level crossing safety, since then, but forget it, the politicians in Israel are busy with more important things like settlements and plans (and lining their own pockets).
In every democracy changes occur in response to public safety, but only very slowly. In the UK they have just proposed changes to the Coroner Court system after a doctor managed to cover up about 45 killings as natural deaths, without any suspicion falling on him for years. The Attorney General has also intervened in a case where a known pedophile was released early and raped a 3 year old child, and was given a minimum 5 year sentence by a judge. You might ask how is this possible? Of course, in the US you have shootings all the time, but little in the way of gun control.
Things do change, and the pace of development in Israel in some areas is incredibly fast. Even the road on the far side of the crossing has been expanded to two lanes and is quite new, but nothing was done to alleviate the problem of the crossing itself. When it comes to safety, in a country that is supposed to value human life, in many ways Israel is an underdeveloped country.