World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims

November 18, 2011 Paul Simpson General Policy Road Traffic Crashes

Sunday 20th November is this year’s World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. The day is not only an opportunity to remember those who have been killed or injured in road crashes but also a day to remember others, such as the family and friends of victims, who have been affected by the fall-out of collisions on the world’s roads.

Bike Crash — Source: Jason Edward Scott Bain, flickr

Sunday will also be the first Remembrance Day to fall within the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020, which was launched earlier this year by the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration and partners. The Decade of Action’s goal is to stabilize and then reduce the global level of road traffic fatalities, which is currently predicted to rise. Importantly, the Decade of Action’s framework recognizes that achieving its goal will not happen by only focusing on road users and participating countries are being encouraged to implement activities in five key areas:

Road safety management

Safer roads and mobility

Safer vehicles

Safer road users

Post-crash response

This year’s World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims is being marked by events all around the world. Earlier this week goodwill ambassadors from the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation visited a primary school in Ho Chi Minh City to remember road traffic victims in Vietnam. While other events on Sunday include, a photo exhibition of all October 2011 crashes at a memorial gathering in Istanbul, Turkey and a “Slow Down for Kids” event in Shanghai, China. The World Day of remembrance will also be observed for the first time in Kuwait.