World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims
Every year, the third Sunday of November is the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims
The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims is held every year on the third Sunday of November.
The next World Day of Remembrance is on Sunday 17th November 2023.
This day focuses on both the overall scale and the individual devastation caused by road deaths and injuries and the impact upon families and communities around the world. Almost 4,000 people are killed and many hundreds of thousands injured on roads throughout the world every day. Many more have to cope with bereavement or the effects of injury and thus become part of the huge group of people affected by road carnage.
Planning an activity for World Day of Remembrance
In recent years many varied events have taken place, such as the march through the City of Bath to an open-air gathering, the Critical Mass of cyclists through London to the sites where someone was killed, or a Remembrance Concert with many bands in Johannesburg. Schools hold special assemblies, minutes of silence, or allow pupils to express their thoughts or feelings in essays and various art forms. People are encouraged to create acts of remembrance in their own way.
In religious gatherings of all kinds, the reading out of names of those killed and injured, the lighting of candles and offering of flowers or acorns as signs of hope, help the bereaved and injured to find expression for their sorrow and give them the courage to go forward. These meetings and ritual acts bring people together and make them appreciate that they are not alone.
You are encouraged to create acts of remembrance in your own way, whether in a religious service, remembrance ceremony, special concert, or other ways that bring together family, friends, schools and local communities
The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims had its origin in 1993 as RoadPeace’s response to road crash victims’ need for public recognition, which was more readily given to victims of other types of crime, disaster or war. It was also seen as a day to commend the vital work of those involved in the aftermath of a crash – including fire, police and ambulance teams, doctors, nurses and counsellors.
The European Federation of Road Traffic Victims (FEVR) then observed this day of remembrance for 10 years along with RoadPeace. This led to the World Day being created. On 26 October 2005, the United Nations General Assembly called on all Member States to adopt and recognise the third Sunday in November of every year as the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. The UN believes this is an appropriate acknowledgement for victims and families of road traffic crashes and also a way to draw attention to the consequences and costs of road crashes and to measures that can be taken to prevent them. Its aim is to remind governments and individual members of society of their responsibility to make roads safer.
The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims is now observed in countries in every continent of the world.
For more information about international activities visit www.worlddayofremembrance.org a website developed by Brigitte Chaudhry, Founder of RoadPeace and president of the European Federation of Road Traffic Victims (FEVR).