On 9 March 2005, Talia was travelling from the home of the family of her boyfriend, Moti, in Jerusalem towards Ariel. At Ariel College, she was in the midst of studying to complete her matriculation and psychometric examinations, with the aim of being accepted to study social work at the college.
On that rainy morning, another accident occurred north of Jerusalem, and a military ambulance was called to the scene. This military ambulance was in fact an armoured, heavy “Abir” vehicle used as an ambulance.
Several hundred metres before the first accident, vehicles had built up in a traffic queue because of the accident.
The driver of the Abir ambulance, who reached the line of vehicles on his way to the accident, overtook the queue while crossing a solid white line, at a high speed that was unsuitable for the characteristics of the Abir vehicle and unsuitable for the road conditions — a wet road and a bend.
When he saw Talia’s car, which was travelling in the farther of the two lanes facing him, he braked hard. As a result, he skidded, lost control and moved towards the lane in which she was travelling. Talia tried to escape to the right and drew close to the safety barrier, but this was not enough, and the heavy Abir ambulance collided with her head-on.
Talia was killed at the scene and her friend, who was travelling with her, was injured.
According to the police examiner, the Abir ambulance was travelling at approximately 70 km/h, a speed above that permitted for this vehicle and more than twice the speed recommended in such conditions.
Media coverage of the accident
From the summer of 2006, the driver of the military Abir ambulance was tried before the Military Court in Haifa.
In its verdict, the court determined that the speed of the Abir ambulance, which was unsuitable for the road conditions, and the driver’s sudden braking were the direct causes of the accident. The driver was therefore convicted of causing death by negligence. Open the verdict as a Word document (file download, in Hebrew).
During the sentencing arguments, the family was given an opportunity to speak about Talia and to express our expectations regarding the sentence. Read the statements.
In February 2008, the military court sentenced the ambulance driver to six months’ imprisonment (three months of which were to be served through military work), twelve months’ suspended imprisonment for two years, disqualification from driving for six years, and demotion to the rank of private. The sentence.
The outcome of the trial received extensive media coverage. Media coverage of the trial
In March 2008, the Military Prosecution appealed against the leniency of the disqualification period, while the defence appealed against the conviction itself. In October 2008, the Military Court of Appeals ruled that the verdict and sentence would remain unchanged. Open the Military Court of Appeals ruling as a PDF file (file download, in Hebrew).