On Sunday 21 November, World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims 2021 (WDoR21) will put the spotlight on the reduction of traffic speeds – low speeds, which have the potential to prevent many deaths and serious injuries, in particular those of pedestrians and all other vulnerable road users – children, elderly and the disabled. 

As with every year, iRAP supports this important day as we pause to #RememberSupportAct for low speed streets that protect and save lives.

A number of events will be taking place in the lead up to and during #WDoR2021, including on November 18, join GRSF for a webinar on the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims roadsafetyfacility.org/events/webinar-world-day-remembrance-road-traffic-victims

Access more events on the WDoR website.

The objectives of WDoR 2021 are to provide a platform for road traffic victims and their families to:

• remember all people killed and seriously injured on the roads;
• acknowledge the crucial work of the emergency services;
• draw attention to the generally trivial legal response to culpable road deaths and injuries;
• advocate for better support for road traffic victims and victim families;
• promote evidence-based actions to prevent and eventually stop further road traffic deaths and injuries.

Theme: ACT for Low Speed Streets

Low speed streets save lives. Road traffic crashes kill 1.35 million every year and tens of millions more are injured. These deaths and injuries are preventable 30km/h speed protects road users and reduce loss of life.

Watch these stories from the #RAPCommunity around the world calling for 30km/h to be the new normal in their city. The videos, produced for the UNGRSW 2021 in partnership with the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety, showcase members’ experiences in their communities and call for 30km/hr speed limits to reduce local road risk.

As we enter the Second Decade of Action for Road Safety, the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims will continue to play an important part in highlighting the very reason for all the necessary actions outlined in the Global Plan.

With the donor support of the FIA Foundation, iRAP will work with partners worldwide to make sure new roads are safe and high-risk existing roads are financed and improved on a scale that matters. Together, we will ensure safe journeys for all road users aligned with important global agendas focussed on road safety, child health, climate, transport, gender and urban mobility.

The next Decade will strategically target iRAP’s global approach and tools to achieve partnerships for 2030 impact in key priority initiatives to deliver scale and maximize lives saved.

Additional resources available to help:

• iRAP Star Ratings of NACTO-GDCI’s Global Street Design Guide resource is free and here to help you design safe streets in your community, to help save lives and improve sustainable mobility for all road users. This resource helps promote the safety, health, economic, and environmental benefits of lower speeds around the world.
• NACTO-GDCI and iRAP animations – demonstrating how lower speed streets can save lives (produced by  Vision Zero Sergek)
• RAP Tools menu – iRAP and its partners have developed a suite of tools that use the iRAP methodology to support infrastructure safety management globally and locally.
• iRAP has released its Plan for the Second Decade of Action for Road Safety to save 2,000,000+ people from death or injury, make 200,000+km of roads safer and influence USD$200 billion of road infrastructure investment to save lives in the next 10 years.
• Download the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety here

Our hearts go out to the families of road crash victims and first responders this World Day of Remembrance. We promise you – our daily work is done in remembrance of your loved ones lost, we support you and commit to act to do all we can, together with our partners, to eliminate high-risk roads.