Messages & Thoughts from:

Brigitte Chaudhry, FEVR, bereaved mother

Modern societies tolerate enormous numbers of road crash victims as the consequence of wholly avoidable technical risks. Manslaughter and Injury touch the ethical basis of any religion - hence the World Day offers religious authorities the chance to remind us of our violated brothers and sisters, and our duty to support their Day.

Rolf Strassfeld, RoadCross, bereaved father

Moira Winslow, Drive Alive, bereaved mother

Because the lack of information about this catastrophe provokes social indifference.

Jeanne Picard, Stop Accidentes, bereaved mother

The Remembrance Day creates a link between all victims. Other people prefer that one should forget, but that is worse. Such a commemoration is VERY IMPORTANT to families, who need to speak of their tragedy, light candles, celebrate a ritual…

Jeannot Mersch, AVR, bereaved father

Casualty statistics are figures from which tears have been wiped...An announcement: „Good news, the road is clear after a serious crash“ But what happens to the victims, their families? Again names added to the long list of those affected, destroyed families, people who suffer... we remember them all on World Day and commit to a culture of road safety, respect, and responsibility towards every road user.

 Angelika Oidtman, Dignitas, injured road victim

The conspiracy of silence over deaths on the road is part of a collective victimization, and of corruption of the memory - this is why we believe that remembering the fallen and talking about them - with pain, with sadness, with love - is more than an individual therapy, it is a collective prophylaxis. That is why we remember those lost lives, and we evoke the names of concrete, real people, who deserved to be alive today, and to have followed their dreams, instead of having been extinguished, prematurely and violently.

Manuel Joao Ramos, ACA-M, bereaved father

This Day is important as a comfort to the bereaved, who seem forgotten by the justice system, the authorities and modern society, and also to raise awareness of this wholly preventable worldwide disaster.

Anne-Lise Cloetta, PAT AP(A)T, bereaved mother

The number of people killed and injured on the roads represents by far the largest of all human- made disasters. The Remembrance Day makes clear to society that this toll is totally unacceptable – both in respect of human misery and economic cost; it also offers the opportunity to share the loss with others, which may help in the process of accepting it.

Hans van Maanen, VVS, injured road victim

Road victims, like other victims, also need a special day, when they feel that they are not alone and that their suffering is considered by the community.

Jacques Duhayon, APPER, bereaved uncle