Is the Israeli police prepared for autonomous and semi-autonomous cars on the country's roads? The answer to this is probably no.
At least that is reflected in this strange story that took place in Nahariya and resulted in a long and nerve-wracking legal battle.
This week, Judge Esther Tafta Gerdi of the Acre Traffic Magistrate's Court put an end to the saga, acquitting a driving instructor from Nahariya of a serious indictment filed against him, in which he was accused of allowing his 12-year-old nephew to drive his Tesla.
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The teacher was convicted of only a minor offense – careless driving – and was sentenced to a fine of only 1,000 shekels, with a commitment to avoid a similar offense in the next two years.
The entire unnecessary legal saga began on December 25, 2022, when the veteran teacher, in his late 50s, was with his two 12-year-old twin nephews in his new Tesla car, in a parking lot on Ben Gaon Street in Nahariya.
According to the indictment, the teacher sat in the teacher's seat next to the driver, his nephew A., age 12, sat in the driver's seat, and his twin brother L. sat in the back. It should be remembered that in a driving instructor's vehicle, there is complete control over the vehicle's pedals, including the gas and brakes.
The two nephews were very excited about the advanced technology of the new car while driving.
At one point, nephew A. asked if the Tesla could be started by voice command. The teacher (uncle) replied that it was possible, but he ruled out the possibility in advance, and performed the driving actions himself using the side pedals intended for the teacher, while holding the steering wheel with his left hand. The vehicle moved slowly for a short distance.
At that moment, a police patrol car pulled up. Two officers quickly unloaded from the car toward the slowly moving vehicle and stopped the driving instructor for a quick questioning. After seeing that the person in the driver's seat was undoubtedly a minor, they took the driving instructor with them to the police station, not before ensuring that the children were reunited with their parents.
At the station, the teacher's driver's license was taken from him by order of an officer.
According to the police testimony, which appeared in their crime report, they noticed a minor sitting in the driver's seat as the vehicle moved slightly forward.
Several days after his license was taken away, a serious indictment was filed against the driving instructor, alleging that he allowed a minor without a license to drive a vehicle, and to this was added an additional offense (compounded) of driving without insurance.
Due to the suspension of his license and the investigation against him, the driving instructor contacted attorney Reuven Malach, who has been involved in traffic law for many years, and he began representing him in the criminal proceedings that were opened against him.
According to Attorney Malach, he expressed his opinion to the police prosecution from the very beginning, according to which no offense of allowing a minor to drive occurred.
""This may be a case of careless driving only, if at all," argued Attorney Malach to the prosecution and the court, but his arguments were of no avail, and a serious indictment was filed against the driving instructor, as stated.
Attorney Malach continued to stick to his version even in the hearings before the Traffic Court. According to him, the minor could not actually drive the vehicle, since he did not reach the pedals with his toes and did not touch the steering wheel at all. According to him, the teacher was in full control of the entire driving action, and in addition, a Tesla vehicle is now considered an almost completely autonomous vehicle.
Both officers admitted in their cross-examination in court that they did not clearly see whether the minor was holding the steering wheel or operating the vehicle's pedals. Furthermore, the videos from the officers' body cameras did not record the moment the vehicle was in motion, but only the moments after the vehicle was allegedly stopped.
In addition, the prosecution waived the minors' testimony in court, so their statements to the police, according to which they did not take part in any driving action, were accepted in full, and without reservations from the parties.
According to Attorney Malach, before and during the trial, the police prosecution insisted on reaching a plea agreement, while demanding heavy penalties for the teacher, which included a two-year driver's license revocation, probation, and a large fine.
In light of Attorney Malach's insistence on a full acquittal, the prosecution reduced the demand to a license revocation for only 11 months, but the driving instructor did not agree to this either, choosing to fight to the end for his innocence in court.
In light of the problematic evidence and the doubts that arose, Judge Esther Tafta Gordi decided to acquit the teacher on the basis of doubt of the serious offenses attributed to him, and adopted the main defense argument that no driving action on the part of the minor was proven.
The judge chose to adopt Attorney Malach's argument that in the most serious case, in the situation described, the defendant drove from the side (from the passenger seat next to the driver), at most it is an alternative offense for which the driving instructor will be charged - with careless driving (usually an offense that carries a fine and points).
And so it was. The teacher was convicted of reckless driving, and was fined 1,000 shekels to the state treasury.
Attorney Reuven Malach: "The prosecution tried to turn a minor and insignificant incident into a serious case. My client, an experienced and responsible teacher, with a moderate traffic record that includes only 13 minor convictions over more than four decades of driving, has already paid a high personal and financial price in a prolonged struggle of over two years with this unnecessary trial.
""From the beginning, I claimed that this was at most a minor offense of carelessness that should have ended with a symbolic fine of only 500 shekels, without a trial and without all the long and unnecessary procedure. I am glad that the court accepted my position, and rejected the prosecution's attempt to be harsh without any justification with a normative person.".
The Israel Police stated: "This is a serious incident in which a 12-year-old minor was sitting in the driver's seat while driving. The prosecution's position in the case was that this was an offense of allowing an unauthorized minor to drive. On the merits, we are studying the verdict, in which the defendant was convicted of a different offense than the one he was initially charged with, and are considering submitting a recommendation for an appeal to the District Court accordingly. It should be clarified that the main issues discussed in the verdict have no connection whatsoever to issues related to autonomous vehicles.".
