World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims

Since the adoption of the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, pursuant to United Nations General Assembly resolution 60/5, the observance has spread to a growing number of countries on every continent. The 15 November has become an important tool in global efforts to reduce road casualties. It offers an opportunity for drawing attention to the scale of emotional and economic devastation caused by road crashes and for giving recognition to the suffering of road crash victims and the work of support and rescue services.

FORUM: Remember. Support. Act. - World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims 2020

The objectives of the Day are to provide a platform for road traffic victims and their families to:

  • remember all people killed and seriously injured 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;

  • promote evidence-based actions to prevent and eventually stop further road traffic deaths and injuries.

Road traffic injuries cause considerable economic losses to individuals, their families, and to nations as a whole. These losses arise from the cost of treatment as well as lost productivity for those killed or disabled by their injuries, and for family members who need to take time off work or school to care for the injured. Road traffic crashes cost most countries 3% of their gross domestic product.

Statement by the United Nations Secretary-General on World Day of Remembrance for Road traffic victims 2020, November 15th.

Road traffic collisions are a major health and development concern. Some 3700 fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, friends and colleagues are lost on the world’s roads every day. Road traffic incidents are the leading cause of death for children and young adults between 5 and 29 years old, and ninety percent of victims live in low- and middle-income countries.

We need to remember this as we resolve to build a strong recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Our mobility systems must have safety at their core. This is the only way we will achieve the ambitious goal of halving road deaths and injuries by 2030.

The United Nations road safety conventions are key to helping countries address the main causes of accidents. I welcome the recent General Assembly Resolution that proclaimed a second Decade of Action for Road Safety from 2021 to 2030, and urged support for the efforts of my Special Envoy for Road Safety and for the United Nations Road Safety Fund.

As we remember the victims of road traffic collisions, let’s commit to reimagining ways to move around the world that are safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable for all, everywhere

António Guterres; UN Secretary-General.

Audio- Video Podcats:

Global Road Safety - Time for Results.

This short film, produced for the 2nd Global High-Level Conference on Road Safety held in Brazil in November 2015, highlights the tragic consequences of the lack of safety on the world’s roads and the urgent measures needed to address this health and development crisis. Road traffic injuries take the lives of some 1.25 million people each year, and are the leading cause of death for young people aged 15-29 years.

Road crashes are a leading cause of death and serious injury to United Nations personnel. In fact, road crashes kill more UN staff than terrorism. The United Nations is committed to curbing road crashes among its staff: for the first time a single, holistic road safety management approach will be implemented to halve the number of UN personnel or other road users killed or seriously injured in road crashes involving UN vehicles. The UN-wide Road Safety Strategy will manage the interaction between speed, vehicles, road-user behavior, and road infrastructure. Fatal crashes are preventable. That’s why safer journeys begin with us.