TEHRAN –The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims is held on the third Sunday in November each year, falling on November 17 this year.

Millions of people lose their lives in road accidents with the death toll growing year by year. 

Themed ‘Safe driving, a social responsibility’, in Iran the day is observed by holding different programs, carrying out maneuvers, and holding two cultural, and educational workshops as well as conferences and technical roundtables. 

Traffic-related accidents have claimed the lives of 10,097 Iranians during the first six months of the current Calendar year (March 20-September 21), which marks a decrease of 618 deaths compared with the same period last year, IRNA reported.

About 62 percent of the accidents are attributed to private vehicles; cars and motorcycles accounted for 25 percent each, vans for 6 percent, trucks for 5 percent, and public transportation for 1 percent of the accidents.

In the country, pedestrians account for 16 percent of victims of all accidents. Their share reaches 24 percent in inner-city areas, and 8 percent on roads.

Accidents are more likely to happen in the evening and at night as 25 percent of the accidents occur from 4 to 8 p.m., and 22 percent from 8 p.m. to midnight.

The Global Status Report on Road Safety, launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) in December 2018, highlights that the number of annual road traffic deaths has reached 1.35 million.

More than half of all road traffic deaths are among vulnerable road users: pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists. Pedestrians, cyclists, and riders of motorized 2- and 3-wheelers and their passengers are collectively known as “vulnerable road users” and account for half of all road traffic deaths around the world. 

A higher proportion of vulnerable road users die in low-income countries than in high-income countries.

Road traffic injuries are now the leading killer of people aged 5-29 years. The burden is disproportionately borne by pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, in particular those living in developing countries.

The report also indicates that progress to realize Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 3.6 – which calls for a 50 percent reduction in the number of road traffic deaths by 2020 – remains far from sufficient.

The WHO celebrates the day with the theme of Remember. Support. Act.

The objectives of the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims 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.

The ‘That Day’ campaign 2024 tells the stories of THAT DAY when traffic collisions stopped or changed the course of the victim’s lives forever. 

Each victim has her/his own story of that day, which their relatives, friends, and acquaintances carry in their memory. 

The emotional charge of that day is so strong that it remains in the memory forever. Therefore, on World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims 2024, we remember the stories of “that day”.