World Day of Remembrance for Road Crash Victims

18th November 2007

India

Institute of Road Traffic Education- New Delhi

IRTE printed posters to spread awareness and wrote to Schools, Colleges of Delhi, and to the Heads of the Traffic Police and Transport departments requesting their participation in observing the World Day of Remembrance for Road Crash Victims, on 18th Nov 2007 by Observing a 30 seconds silence at 11.30 am on Sunday, 18th November and encouraging the maximum number of people along with their family members to participate.

The Traffic police were requested to support in promoting the observance of silence in Schools, Colleges and other organization associated with them. IRTE also stressed upon how their support in this endeavor would go a long way in reducing the pain, misery, apathy of road accidents victims, who should not feel that they are neglected by the society or the government.

It was recommended that Traffic Police should initiate reduction of road traffic casualties by considering to:

a) Initiate internal workshops on scientific accident investigation and analysis.

b) Initiate a help desk at Traffic Police Office to support road crash victims.

ArriveSafe (NGO),

Chandigarh, Punjab ( India)

ArriveSafe and Chandigarh Traffic Police organised a workshop on road safety rules at Dev Samaj College for Girls, Chandigarh. The workshop was organised to remember road traffic accident victims who lost their lives in various accidents. Traffic rules and regulations tips were given to the audience by harman Singh Sidhu and Amar Manchanda of Traffic Awareness Organisation. We interacted with the students, teachers and the general public present during the awareness campaign.

A silence for 30 seconds was observed to mourn and remember the traffic victims and a painting competition was organised by the Chandigarh Librarians' Association on the occasion.

Forum for Prevention of Road Accidents and Orissa Road Safety Society

Cuttack, Orissa (India)

The Forum for Prevention of Road Accidents (FPRA) which is functioning under the aegis of SUPRATIVA has observed World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims in Cuttack, India on 18th November 2007 with active cooperation of Orissa Road Safety Society.

This was attended by many luminaries of the state like Mr. Samir Dey, Minister for Higher Education, Public Grievances & Pension Administration. Government of Orissa; Mr. Tuhinkanta Pandey, Transport Commissioner-cum-Chairman, State Transport Authority, Orissa; Mr. Satyajit Mohanty, Inspector General of Police, Fire Services & Home Guards, Orissa; Mr. Binoyatosh Mishra, Addl. Transport Commissioner (Enforcement), State Transport Authority, Orissa; Mr. Sarada Kanta Mohapatra, Addl. Transport Commissioner (Tech.), STA, Orissa etc. Mr. Rabinararayan Satpathy, Chairman and Mr. Bikash Mohapatra, Convener of Forum for Prevention of Road Accidents (FPRA) presided and delivered key note address of the meeting respectively.

Personal story telling of bereaved family members and sharing of their sufferings in front of audience has been organised. This was followed by lighting the lamps, offering flowers in memories of road accident victims etc. Observing a moment of silence was another way of remembering road crash victims. This had drawn the attention of the common people to the epidemic scale of traffic deaths and injuries, and the potential risk to all road users.

The testimonies of some road accident victims has also been documented in video and projected on this occasion. The documented film was directed by Mr. Sudhakar Das. The projection of the film raised awareness of the magnitude and impact of road traffic crashes on families and society, and the need for improved post-crash care and support for the bereaved and injured.

India remembers road crash victims in 2007

Bikash Mohapatra, Convener of the Forum for Prevention of Road Accidents (FPRA) in Orissa, wrote:

Globally, India with 84,674 numbers of fatalities in road accidents in a year ranks next only to China. In our small state like Orissa, total 7,729 road accidents were registered in 2006 and 2,745 died and another 9,773 people were injured. The fatality rate is high in Orissa with 33 deaths per 100 accidents as against the national average of 21. On the occasion of World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, our Forum is going
to hold different programmes in the state of Orissa (India).

Video Documentation on Suffering Victims: The testimonies of some road accident victims will be documented in video and projected on this occasion before the people. The objective of this programme is to raise awareness of the magnitude and impact of road traffic crashes on families and society, and the need for improved post-crash care and support for the bereaved and injured.

Personal Story Telling: Personal story telling of bereaved family members and sharing
of their sufferings in front of audience will also be arranged. This will be followed by lighting the lamps, offering of flowers in memories of road accident victims etc. Observing a moment of silence will be another way of remembering road crash victims. The objective is to draw attention to the epidemic scale of traffic deaths and injuries, and the potential risk to all road users.