Please Light a Candle November 18th, 2007

World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims

Sunday 18th November 2007

from "Make Roads Safe"

"Public remembrance is not for the benefit of victims to remember what happened to them. Victims remember well what happened to them. Public reflection is the act of recognition. It states to the victims and their families that their humanity is valued, that their loss is our loss and that their suffering is shared, if only through recognizing the tragedy and error of its occurrence."

The United Nations has designated the third Sunday in November every year as the official World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.

This World Day provides an opportunity to remember the millions of people who have been killed or injured in road crashes across the world; to show solidarity with those living with injuries and disabilities from road crashes; and to call for better support for those who have been left behind: the families of road crash victims, who have to deal with grief; a search for understanding about how and why their loved one was killed or injured; a demand for justice and accountability from those responsible; and support in putting their own lives back together.

This World Day is also the annual day of action to demand greater national and international efforts to reduce the tragic toll of death and injury on the world’s roads.

What you can do:

‘Light of Hope’. The European Federation of Road Traffic Victims (FEVR) is calling on people and organizations to light a candle to ‘remember and reflect, remember and respond’. Please support this ‘Light of Hope’ initiative. See here for more details. For more ideas for marking the World Day, please read this guide prepared by WHO, Roadpeace and FEVR.

Make Roads Safe petition. One practical action you can take during the weekend of 16-18 November is to sign and circulate the Make Roads Safe petition to your friends, family and colleagues or to the community in your place of worship. You can download a paper copy of the petition, which calls for UN action on global road traffic deaths and injuries, here. Our petition will be presented to the UN Secretary General in advance of a UN debate on a proposal for a first ever UN Conference on Global Road Safety. Help us to achieve this objective by supporting the petition.

Please share this information with anyone you know that needs remembered.

Thank you....with love!