The local Council is failing to take steps – by passing a by law – to prevent illegal parking in narrow traffic lanes,on the pavements and on pedestrian crossings in the Kiryah.
Every time I travel by taxi or by bus, I am in danger because traffic cannot proceed in both directions. I am in danger when I am forced to walk in the road because a car, or cars, have parked on the pavement.
I also use a narrow pedestrian walkway which is no entry for motor vehicles, but the local council will not put up barriers to prevent the entry of motor cycles, which travel, without warning, on this pedestrian walkway.
Is the local Council failing in its halachic duty to provide safe passage for pedestrians and motor vehicles in the Kiryah by not passing a by law, which would enable them to take steps to prevent illegal parking and is the Moatza failing in its halachic duty to provide me with a safe passage on a pedestrian walkway?
Answer:
The Mishnah (Mo’ed Katan 2a) writes that road and the like can be mended even during festival times (on Chol Ha-Moed), and the Gemara (5a) explains that if those responsible for doing so do not take care of public needs, and somebody dies as a result, it is considered as though those responsible killed him.
This teaches us that there is a clear obligation on those who are in the position to do so to ensure the safety of pedestrians and drivers alike. This includes all means available to the municipality, including passing by-laws, and so on.
