Medical Institute for Road Safety - Traffic Lawyer explains

We all want to feel safe on the road and while driving. Besides adequate infrastructure and the enforcement of traffic laws, there is another and equally important aspect that ensures that Israel’s roads do not become a killing field: driving competency. The Medical Institute for Road Safety (known by its Hebrew acronym MARBAD) conducts medical competency tests for drivers who have been referred to it by various parties. The institute has been given the authority to suspend a driver’s license for a period of up to one year.

Our law firm specializes in traffic law, among other things. If you have received a summons to the Medical Institute for Road Safety or your license is at risk of being suspended for another reason, we recommend contacting a traffic attorney for assistance.

Who may receive a summons to the Medical Institute for Road Safety?

The institute does not conduct competency tests on its own initiative. It sends summons letters to drivers who have been referred to it by authorized parties, such as the police, the courts, the licensing office and doctors. Who may receive a summons for a driving competency test at the Medical Institute for Road Safety? A few examples follow:

Health issues: Doctors have an obligation to report any patient suffering from a medical impairment that may impair their ability to drive safely and properly. These include, for example, epilepsy patients with an active disease, people who suffer from heart problems, neurological problems, and more.
Traffic offenses: the police, the courts and the licensing office refer drivers who have been involved in a traffic accident or who are repeat traffic offenders to examine whether they pose a danger to themselves and to others on the road.
Suspension of a driver’s license: people whose license has been suspended, for example due to the accumulation of traffic points, can and will be required to perform a driving competency test before their license is reinstated.

Why is it important to contact a lawyer?

In Israel, a driver’s license is not a luxury – it is a necessity. Therefore, if you have received a summons for an examination from the Medical Institute for Road Safety, you need a professional and experienced traffic law firm to help you keep your license. People who have no experience with this body may mistakenly think that this is a bureaucratic matter and therefore refrain from seeking legal representation.

This is based on the assumption that there is no difficulty in passing the competency tests involved. In practice, to prevent the suspension of your license, professional experience and knowledge are required in order to prove that the driver is fit to drive. Therefore, without legal support, there is a good chance that the institute will recommend license suspension.

For example, a driver referred to the Medical Institute for Road Safety will usually be asked to provide medical information. The documents submitted by the driver to the institute may have a direct impact on the decision whether or not to suspend the license. As part of the legal representation, the lawyer will review the driver’s medical file and learn which documents describe the driver’s situation in the most accurate way and will help them keep their license.

Another reason why you should seek help in this situation is the option of filing an appeal. If the Medical Institute for Road Safety decides to suspend your driver’s license, you have the right to appeal to an appeal committee within 30 days. An experienced lawyer in this field can detect the flaws in the decision and bring about the reversal of the decision and the reinstatement of the driver’s license.

Filing an appeal

Often, the Medical Institute for Road Safety’s decision to suspend a driver’s license is granted with no real justification. For example, when the decision was based on an outdated medical document, or an incorrect interpretation of the driver’s physical or mental condition. This is very common, especially when the driver faces this procedure alone without professional representation.

This is no trivial matter – the suspension of a driver’s license may cause considerable damage to the driver’s quality of life. Moreover, there are many people whose livelihood depends on driving, such as bus drivers and taxi drivers. For them, suspension of their driver’s license means direct financial harm.

If your driver’s license was unjustly suspended, you have the right to file an appeal to the committee at Tel Hashomer Hospital. To increase your chances of having your appeal granted and your license reinstated, you should be represented by a traffic attorney, who will make sure to formulate a reasoned appeal and represent to the committee medical documents and relevant opinions proving that you are fit to drive, in order to change the decision of the Medical Institute for Road Safety.