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World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims on November 21

UN General Assembly adopted the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims on October 26, 2005, as “the appropriate acknowledgment for victims of road traffic crashes and their families.”
A car accident on the way to Hpaan Karen State, Myanmar. (Photo: Supplied).

The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims has its history. From 1995, road victim organizations under the umbrella of the European Federation of Road Traffic Victims observed this day together- first as European Day of Remembrance, but soon as World Day when NGOs from Africa, South America and Asia joined.

UN General Assembly adopted the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims on October 26, 2005, as “the appropriate acknowledgment for victims of road traffic crashes and their families.”

As a result, all continents, not only by NGOs advocating for road safety and road victims, commemorate World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.

The objectives of the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims are

  • remember all people killed and seriously injured on the roads;
  • acknowledge the crucial work of the emergency services;
  • draw attention to the response to the responsible road deaths and injuries;
  • advocate for better support for road traffic victims and victim families;
  • promote actions to prevent and stop further road traffic deaths and injuries;

The day is observed on the third Sunday of November.

Road deaths and injuries are sudden, violent, traumatic events. Their impact is long-lasting, often permanent. The grief and distress experienced by a significant number of people since many of the victims are young. Accidents have not been prevented enough.  The responses of the Governments and the societies to the road deaths and injured victims are often inadequate, unsympathetic and inappropriate to the loss of lives.

On the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, we honor the dedicated emergency crews, police and medical professionals who deal daily with the traumatic aftermath of road crashes.

The 6th UN Global Road Safety Week, which took place on 17 to 23 May 2021.

“Low speed streets save lives and are the heart of any community. 30 km/h (20 mph) speed limits where people and traffic mix make for streets that are healthy, green and liveable, in other words, streets for life,” the declaration read.

The causes of road accidents such as overspeeding, drunken driving, distractions to driver, red light jumping, non-adherence to lane driving and overtaking in a wrong manner, driving in time of heavy rain, vehicle defects, etc.

For the effective prevention of road traffic accidents, it is to make efforts to educate people especially those who drive to avoid over-speeding and following speed limits, to avoid drunken driving, to use helmets by two-wheeler drivers, to use seat belts and child restraints in cars, to improve visibility, appropriate headlights and road lightings.

 

Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.”  Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.