Subject
title
Proclamation Declaring November 16, 2025, as World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims
end
Department
City Clerk/Director of Council Operations Office
Recommendation
Staff recommends the Mayor and Council read, approve, and present the proclamation to Kathleen Kleinmann, Chair of the Rockville Transportation and Mobility Commission
Discussion
World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims started in the UK in 1993 by Brigitte Chaudhry, founder of a national charity for road crash victims named RoadPeace. By 1998, many other countries added their support, including Argentina, Australia, Israel, South Africa, and Trinidad. In 2005, the United Nations General Assembly invited all nations to observe the day, aa support around the world continued to grow.
This day of remembrance has had much success in global efforts to reduce road casualties by following a set of objectives. The goal is providing a platform for road traffic victims and their families to remember people killed and seriously injured on the roads, acknowledge the crucial work of the emergency support and rescue services, draw attention to the generally trivial legal response to culpable road deaths and injuries, advocate for better support for road traffic victims and their families, and to promote evidence-based actions to prevent and eventually stop further road traffic deaths and injuries.
In September 2020, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution improving global road safety and proclaiming the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030, which has the target of preventing at least 50% of road traffic deaths and injuries by the year 2030. In addition, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Regional Commissions, as well as other partners in the United Nations Safety Collaboration, have developed a Global Plan for this Decade of Action.
Here in the City of Rockville, we encourage everyone to take part in the observance of World Day of Remembrance by thinking of the victims of road traffic accidents and to do their part by practicing safe driving and following traffic laws, whether you’re a driver or a pedestrian crossing the street.
Statistics:
• In 2022, 42,514 people died <https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813563> in roadway crashes in the U.S.
• Deaths in 2021 represent a 10.5% increase over 2020 <https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/early-estimate-2021-traffic-fatalities> and the largest annual percentage increase in the history of the nation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), started in 1975.
• In 2022, 7,342 people were killed while walking <https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/Publication/813590> in the U.S. This number of pedestrians killed in traffic crashes was the highest since 1981.
• In 2022, 1,105 people were killed while bicycling <https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/Publication/813591> in the U.S., a 13% increase over 2021. In 2022, the number of cyclists killed in traffic crashes was the highest since FARS began in 1975.
• The U.S. ranks 47th out of 54 in traffic fatality rate among high-income nations according to the World Health Organization <https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/estimated-road-traffic-death-rate-(per-100-000-population)> (2019).
• 23 States are projected to have had increases in fatalities in 2022 as compared to 2021 (source <https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/traffic-crash-death-estimates-2022>)
Source - <https://wdor-usa.org/>
Mayor and Council History
The Mayor and Council present this proclamation annually.