Initiated by Road Peace, the road victims charity, in 1993, this day will now be globally recognised, following the adoption by the UN General Assembly on 26th October 2005 of a resolution to recognize the third Sunday in November of every year as the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, as an appropriate acknowledgement for the million-plus victims of road traffic crashes every year- Brigitte Chaudhry, RoadPeace Founder, said:

“We at RoadPeace are extremely pleased at this official adoption by the UN of our Remembrance Day, which we have worked so hard to promote over so many years, together with our colleagues from victim organisations in Europe and beyond. This important recognition will help ensure that victims worldwide will feel less marginalized and that the profound impact of road deaths and injuries will become better appreciated and the causes more urgently addressed.”

Road Peace has produced a list of remembrance services taking place in this country. Their annual London concert is also scheduled for this week. Taking place at the Amadeus Centre London W9 on Friday , the performance includes work by Haydn, Brahms and Oscar Peterson amongst others.

At Velorution we share the sentiment expressed in this Autumn’s issue of Safety First, the Road Peace Newsletter:

“Few people know better than those who have lost a loved one in a car crash what agonies the families and friends of the victims of the July London attacks are going through. The utter heartache, the shock of the sheer suddeness of a loved one killed or maimed as they were going about their daily business. The distress caused by their horrendous deaths and injuries. And RoadPeace’s heartfelt sympathy goes out to the newly bereaved.
But road victims can only stand back in jaw-dropping amazement to hear politicians talk about these attacks as the greatest terror we face. The figures show they are talking nonsense.”