This year the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (WDR) will take place on Sunday 17th November 2013. The day is celebrated each year by an increasing number of countries on every continent around the world. This day is dedicated to remembering the many millions killed or injured in road crashes and their families and communities, as well as to pay tribute to the dedicated emergency crews, police and medical professionals who daily deal with the traumatic aftermath of road death and injury.
Road deaths and injuries are sudden, violent, traumatic events, the impact of which is long-lasting, often permanent. Each year, millions of newly injured and bereaved people from every corner of the world are added to the countless millions already suffering as the result of a road crash.
The burden of grief and distress experienced by this huge number of people is all the greater because many of the victims are young, because many of the crashes could and should have been prevented and because the response to road death and injury and to victims and families is often inadequate, unsympathetic, and inappropriate to the loss of life or quality of life.
This special Remembrance Day is intended to respond to the great need of road crash victims for public recognition of their loss and suffering.
This day has also become an important tool for governments and all those whose work involves crash prevention or response to the aftermath, since it offers the opportunity to demonstrate the enormous scale and impact of road deaths and injuries and the urgent need for concerted action to stop the carnage.
In 2011 – YOURS dedicated its global awarness to the World Day of Remembrance through the Embrace Life Campagn
The campaign was all about appreciating life and recognizing that our actions to keep safe on the road has enabled us to live, while many have been taken on the road. The gallery in the right column is the result of our Embrace Life Campaign, a unique photo exhibition that illustrates participation from around the world.
Young people have sent in their photos of how and why they embrace life. This exhibition is viewable as individual photos in the album on the right! We launch our photo exhibition today (20/11/11) to coincide with the World Day of Remembrace for Road Traffic Victims.
View our Embrace Life Picture Mosaics – These mosaics are a blend of all the photos sent in to create the logos below! Click on them to view the full size:
By embracing life, we hold the values of road safety high and move forward in life with road safety a priority in our minds. While we embrace life, we also remember the tragic loss of life on the road where many have lost loved ones. This campaign remembers them and in their name, we go forward promising to spread the message of road safety to help prevent future tragedies.
Tell us how you will commemorate the World Day of Remembrance this year!
This theme for the World Day of Remembrance this year relates to the call in Pillar 2 of the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for safer road infrastructure, promotion of the needs of all road users, especially the most vulnerable, and for sustainable urban planning, with road authorities made legally responsible for improving road safety on their networks.
This theme is to encourage all road safety stakeholders to promote infrastructure that meets the needs of all users, to share knowledge and to encourage research and development in safer roads and mobility.