Announcements: World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims — November 20, 2011

Weekly

November 18, 2011 / 60(45);1558

Road traffic crashes kill nearly 1.3 million persons every year and injure or disable as many as 50 million more (1). Road trauma is the leading cause of death among persons aged 10--24 years worldwide and the leading cause of death to those aged 5--34 years in the United States. CDC has declared road traffic injuries a "winnable battle" and supports efforts at the United Nations (UN) and World Health Organization (WHO) to celebrate 2011--2020 as the Decade of Action for Road Safety (2).
In October 2005, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution* calling for governments to mark the third Sunday in November each year as World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. The day was created as a means to give recognition to persons injured or killed in road traffic crashes and the plight of relatives and others who must cope with the emotional and practical consequences of these events.
WHO and the UN Road Safety Collaboration encourage governments and nongovernmental organizations worldwide to commemorate this day as a means of drawing the public's attention to road traffic crashes, their consequences and costs, and prevention measures. Additional information about the remembrance day is available at http://www.worlddayofremembrance.org. Additional information about motor vehicle injuries and prevention is available at http://www.cdc.gov/winnablebattles/motorvehicleinjury.

References

1. World Health Organization. Global status report on road safety: time for action. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2009.
2. CDC. Launch of Decade of Action for Global Road Safety---May 11, 2011. MMWR 2011;60:554.

* Improving global road safety, Resolution 60/5, United Nations General Assembly, 60th Sess. (2005). Available at http://www.un.org/en/roadsafety/background.shtml.

Announcements: World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims — November 20, 2011