The World Day of Remembrance (WDR) for Road Traffic Victims was commemorated on 20 November this year. It is "a moment to reflect and remember the 1.25 million lives lost every year, the millions more left seriously injured, and the families and loved ones who are so tragically affected by road crashes", said Mr. Todt, the Special Envoy for Road Safety who participated the commemoration activities organized by the the European Federation of Road Traffic Victims (FEVR).The Day is also a day on which we thank the emergency services and reflect on the tremendous burden and cost of this daily continuing disaster to families, communities and countries, and on ways to halt it.
The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims was started by RoadPeace in 1993. Since then it has been observed and promoted worldwide by several NGOs, including the European Federation of Road Traffic Victims (FEVR) and its associated organizations. On 26 October 2005, the United Nations endorsed it as a global day to be observed every third Sunday in November each year, making it a major advocacy day for road traffic injury prevention. WHO and the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration encourage governments and NGOs around the world to commemorate this day.