Commemorated on the third Sunday of November each year, the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims is to remember the many millions killed and injured on the world’s roads, together with their families, friends and many others who are also affected.
It’s also an opportunity to acknowledge the importance of emergency services, recognise the financial impact of this ongoing crisis on families, communities, and countries, and discuss ways to curb it.
Road deaths and injuries are sudden, violent, traumatic events and the results are long-lasting, and often permanent. The grief and distress experienced by this huge number of people are all the greater because many of the victims are young and many of the crashes could and should have been prevented.
“Almost 80% of road crashes in South Africa occur as a result of a human factor (speed, negligence etc). Road and environmental factors account for 17%, while the rest are due to vehicle factors.” – Road Traffic Management Corporation, 2017
The World Day history
- Since 1995, road victim organisations under the umbrella of the European Federation of Road Traffic Victims (FEVR), observed this day – first as European Day of Remembrance, then as World Day when NGOs from Africa, South America, and Asia, who were associated members of FEVR, joined the campaign. (fevr.org)
- Since 2000, the Pope and other religious leaders remembered road victims worldwide on the 3rd Sunday of November, calling it World Day.
- 26 October 2005 – World Day was adopted by the UN General Assembly as “the appropriate acknowledgement for victims of road traffic crashes and their families”.
Roads have stories
The slogan for WDoR 2018 is “Roads have Stories”, which is linked to the second pillar of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011–2020.
“Roads & streets are more than connections from point A to point B.They tell stories – some of them tragic – that is worth remembering.”
