World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims is Sunday, November 16
This year, Portland's World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims event will take place on Sunday, November 16 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Luuwit View Park (NE 127th Avenue and Fremont Street).This year's event is hosted by Families for Safe Streets Portland with support from sponsors Oregon Walks, BikeLoud, 1000 Friends of Oregon, The Street Trust, Portland Parks & Recreation, and Portland Bureau of Transportation.
What is World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims?
The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims is a global event held every third Sunday of November to honor those who have lost their lives or been impacted by traffic violence. Communities across the U.S. (and the world!) gather to call attention to the devastating cost of crashes and to advocate for proven strategies like redesigning streets, lowering speed limits, outfitting vehicles with life-saving technology, and more. This day also serves as a crucial opportunity for governments and those working in road safety to demonstrate the scale and impact of road-related deaths and injuries and advocate for immediate and concerted action to end this preventable public health crisis.
Why it matters
The urgent calls for action on World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims come as people in the U.S. experienced the highest number of roadway deaths in 16 years — and the highest number of deaths amongst people walking in 40 years in 2022.
On World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, a record-number of U.S. communities will join in solidarity and urge action to address the nation's historic — and preventable — roadway safety crisis. Crash survivors, grieving families, advocates and public agency representatives are organizing events in more than 75 U.S. communities, remembering those killed and injured, and urging specific, life-saving changes at local, state and federal levels.
U.S. traffic fatality statistics
The U.S. failure to protect all road users, especially people walking and biking, makes us unique among other developed nations. While other countries successfully implement proven safety strategies, traffic deaths continue to rise in the U.S.
These figures minimize the pain and impact of the nation's failed transportation safety policies. On World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, we will remind the world that each "statistic" about roadway safety represents a beloved parent, child, sibling, grandparent, friend or neighbor killed in predictable and preventable traffic crashes.
- 42,514 people died in 2022
- 10.5% increase over 2020
- 7,522 people were killed walking in the U.S.
- 1,105 people were killed while biking in the U.S.
- 47 out of 54 in traffic fatality rate (among high-income nations according to the World Health Organization)
- 23 states projected to increase fatalities
Traffic deaths and serious injuries are preventable
This year's World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims in the U.S., we lift up the important message that traffic deaths and serious injuries are preventable.
We have the tools and knowledge to prevent traffic deaths and severe injuries. We know what works to advance Vision Zero: safe mobility for all. By investing in safe road and vehicle designs and passing policies to prioritize safety over speed, we can save lives and improve communities.
The time to demand action to prevent traffic violence is now
Where communities lower speed limits, redesign roadways for safety over speed, add traffic calming measures, build great walking and biking spaces, ensure vehicle safety and implement other proven safety countermeasures, we experience safer, healthier and more equitable communities for all.
We know what works to prevent traffic deaths and severe injuries in our communities. Now, let's make it happen.
Event background
World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims was founded in 1992 as a project of the World Health Organization and the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration. World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2005, to honor those who have been killed on the world's roads, and advocate for life-saving change. Families for Safe Streets held the first large-scale U.S. even in 2015 and supported others to hold events as well. FSS now joins the Vision Zero Network, Road to Zero Coalition and It Could Be Me to support those interested in holding World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims events in their communities.