World Day of Remembrance 2023
Calls for Action
On November 19, 2023 – World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims – a record-number of U.S. communities will join in solidarity and urge action to address the nation’s historic — and preventable — roadway safety crisis. Crash survivors, grieving families, advocates and public agency representatives are organizing events in more than 70 U.S. communities, remembering those killed and injured, and urging specific, life-saving changes at local, state and federal levels.
As part of World Day of Remembrance, grieving families, crash survivors and others across the nation will call on local, state and federal leaders to implement proven safety solutions, including:
● Requiring Intelligent Speed Assistance technology in new vehicles and in vehicles of repeat drunk driving offenders. Just this week, the National Transportation Safety Board made news by recommending these and other actions.
● Redesigning dangerous streets and adding traffic calming measures to discourage high speeds, including narrowing travel lanes, as recommended in a new report from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
● Addressing the dangers of super-sized vehicles, which are 45% more likely to cause fatalities in crashes with pedestrians than smaller cars, according to new research by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Professional basketball player Kelly Oubre Jr., of the Philadelphia 76ers, was recently hit by a motorist and seriously injured while walking. As a Philadelphia Inquirer editorial asked: “If a 6-foot-7 basketball player is hard for a driver to see from behind the wheel of a vehicle, how does anyone else stand a chance?
Can it be different?
Other nations are making significant strides in improving roadway safety using many strategies not yet adopted in the U.S., which ranks the worst amongst 29 high-income countries analyzed for road safety by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). 2021 saw a 16-year-high in U.S. traffic deaths and the largest annual percentage increase in the nation’s increase in the nation’s reporting history. Between 2012 and 2021, the number of people killed while walking in the U.S. increased a staggering 58% and people killed while biking increased 31%.
New federal policies and increased funding are being issued to stem the record-number of U.S. roadway deaths. More than $80 million was announced last month in funding for 235 communities (see map & list) as part of the new federal Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program. This is in addition to the 500+ communities (see map & list) which received grants totalling $800 million in the first cycle of the new program. These support the establishment of the first national goal of zero traffic deaths and the release of the National Roadway Safety Strategy in early 2022.
Learn More
Learn more about the U.S. World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims activities and calls for change at wdor-usa.org. U.S. World Day of Remembrance is organized by Vision Zero Network, Families for Safe Streets, It Could be Me and Road to Zero Coalition, in partnership with local communities.