It is UN Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims on Sunday, Nov. 18.
An initiative begun by RoadPeace, a British charity, in 1993 and taken up by the UN in 2005, it aims “to remember lives lost and broken on the roads; to bring families and friends together” and “to give thanks to the emergency services”.
There are 24 remembrance services tied with Christian churches in the UK, one memorial cycle ride (in Guernsey), and one event in a public garden (in Liverpool).
In its Global Status Report on Road Safety: Time for Action (2009) , the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated 1.275 million will be killed on roads each year.
WHO also estimates that for every person killed on roads, another four suffer lifelong disabilities.
RoadPeace suggest that other deaths and disabilities caused by motor vehicles, especially through traffic-generated air pollution, would make traffic one of the leading causes of death globally, exceeding that from HIV/AIDS.
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