The third Sunday of November is a day where the United Nations commemorate victims of road traffic accidents.
Road traffic injuries are the leading killer of people aged between 5 and 29 years of age. According to the ‘Global Status on Road Safety’ report launched by the World Health Organisation in December 2018, more than half of these fatalities are among vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. As road deaths and injuries are violent and traumatic, their impact is long-lasting, even permanent. Each year, millions of newly injured and bereaved people from every corner of the world are added to this list.
In 1995, RoadPeace (UK) dedicated a day to remembering road traffic victims internationally. This was then taken up by the European Federation of Road Traffic Victims (FEVR) and its many member organisations. On 26 October 2005, UN Member States adopted UN General Assembly Resolution 60/5, calling for an annual World Day of Remembrance (WDR) for Road Traffic Victims as an “appropriate acknowledgement for victims of road crashes and their families”.
Since then, the observance of this day has spread to a growing number of countries across all continents, not only by NGOs advocating for road safety but also by governments and all related and relevant stakeholders. WDR is commemorated on the third Sunday of November each year (that will fall on 21 November this year). The day is meant to provide a platform for people to:
- remember all people killed and injured seriously on the roads;
- acknowledge the crucial work of the emergency services;
- draw attention to the generally trivial legal response to culpable road deaths and injuries;
- advocate for better support for road traffic victims and victim families; and
- promote evidence-based actions to prevent and eventually stop further road traffic deaths and injuries.
Commemorative events are held on each World Day — or on the days preceding or following it — to increase the level of awareness of road safety and to improve the situation internationally.
As a road safety advocate and affiliated member of the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), AA Singapore supports the WDR. Join the world in paying tribute to the victims on 15 November 2020 as we mark the day to remember those killed and injured in road accidents and thinking of their loved ones. We urge all road users to be considerate and never take road safety for granted. One life lost is one too many. Remember, your family is waiting for you.
#WDoR2020
