WIREDGOV

On the occasion of the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, Violeta Bulc, the EU's Transport Commissioner made the following statement:

"Road safety has been one of the great European success stories and our roads are much safer today than they were some twenty years ago. But our work cannot stop here! More than 26, 000 people still die on our roads every year, and many more suffer horrific road traffic injuries.

Behind these statistics are grieving parents, children, siblings, colleagues and friends. This is an unacceptable price to pay for mobility. Today my thoughts go out to every person who has lost someone dear to them, and to all those who have been physically or mentally affected by a road accident.

The World Day of Remembrance gives us a painful but necessary reminder that working towards improving road safety is a never ending process. It is clear that we have come a long way, but more needs to be done.

That is why I would like to take this opportunity to personally pledge to make road safety one of my top priorities as the European Transport Commissioner. I hope that I can count on you to work actively together with the European Commission, to help make our roads safer in Europe. Together we can save thousands of lives."

Background

The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims is commemorated on the third Sunday of November each year in order to remember all those who are killed or injured in road traffic crashes every year. The World Day of Remembrance also calls attention to the suffering of the families and friends of the victims. The Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims was first established in 1995 on the initiative of the European Federation of Road Traffic Victims. Since 2005 the World Day of Remembrance is endorsed by the United Nations and recognised and honoured on all continents.