The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (WDoR2018) is commemorated on the third Sunday of November, namely November 18, 2018. This year, the activities in this commemoration take place under the slogan “Roads have stories”.
This day is marked in order to remember the many millions losing their lives in road traffic accidents around the globe, and to support the families of the victims. It is also a Day on which we acknowledge and thank the emergency services focusing on their role in saving lives of people in road traffic accidents. Activities within this commemoration are aimed at making the society aware that, through concrete measures, they shall pay more attention to the need for improvement of legislation, awareness, infrastructure, etc. with the main aim being to help and spare as many families as possible the pain and tragedy that they would suffer in cases of losing their loved ones.
Every year the lives of more than 1.25 million people are cut short and tens of millions remain severely injured as a result of road traffic accidents around the world. Road traffic accidents are the leading cause of death among people aged between 15 and 29 years, and the eighth leading cause of death globally. It is estimated that in developing countries about 1% to 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) is lost annually due to road traffic accidents.
This year, for the fourth time in a row, our country was amongst the countries from around the world marking the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, and just like in the previous years in Kosovo, the activities were coordinated by the College of Applied Technical Sciences “Tempulli” and the Kosovo Association of Motorization “AMRKS”, in cooperation with the Ministry of Infrastructure, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Kosovo Police, the Road Traffic Safety Council and the partners of the Kosovo Road Safety Forum.
Agenda of activities:
On Saturday, 17 November 2018, a lecture on “Approach, challenges and confrontations in road accidents at the country level” (Health, Police, Judiciary) was delivered at the Tempulli College.
On Sunday, 18 November 2018 – at the National Theatre of Kosovo, 108 candles were lit up in memory of 108 persons who died in road traffic accidents so far in 2018. In addition to many citizens, this activity was also attended by the Minister of Infrastructure, Pal Lekaj, and Lieutenant Colonel Samedin Mehmeti from the Kosovo Police.
On this occasion, the short awareness-raising film on road safety named “Roads have stories” was also promoted.