Ottawa, Ontario – The second annual “National Day of Remembrance for Road Crash Victims”, a day set aside to remember those killed or seriously injured on Canadian roads, often in avoidable collisions, and those left to deal with the sudden and unexpected loss of people they love, is scheduled for November 18th.
This year’s theme is “Raising awareness of the number of deaths on Canadian roads.” In Canada, almost 3,000 people die and another 200,000 are injured every year in road crashes.
The good news is that the number of deaths on our roads is going down. In 2008, one life was saved every day because Canada is increasing enforcement, introducing new policies, building safer vehicles, and changing road user behaviours, according to the Canadian Global Road Safety Committee (CGRSC).
The World Health Organization (WHO), which is part of the U.N., oversees this important day of remembrance because road safety is a significant health issue. An estimated 1,200,000 people are killed around the world every year in road traffic crashes. Alcohol, drugs, speeding, driver distraction, fatigue and failure to buckle up are key contributing factors of collisions.
More information can be found at the National Day of Remembrance for Road Crash Victims web site.
