The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (WDR) is commemorated on the third Sunday of November each year.
It is a high-profile global event to remember the many millions who have been killed and seriously injured on the world’s roads and to acknowledge the suffering of all affected victims, families and communities – millions added each year to countless millions already suffering: a truly tremendous cumulative toll.
This Day has also become an important tool for governments and all those whose work involves crash prevention or response to the aftermath of crashes, since it offers the opportunity to demonstrate the enormous scale and impact of road deaths and injuries, call for an end to the often trivial and inappropriate response to road death and injury and advocate for urgent concerted action to stop the carnage.
On World Day we too pay tribute to the dedicated emergency crews, police and medical professionals, who deal daily with the traumatic aftermath of road crashes.
For the past several years in Whatcom County, we’ve held a World Day of Remembrance ceremony. This year, because of COVID-19, we were unable to gather together. Still, we want to remember those who have been killed in traffic crashes and honor the emergency workers who are called upon to respond. This video captures the words and actions of leaders and responders in our community: