The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims will take place this Sunday, 15 November. We take the opportunity to talk about Stop Accidentes, a benchmark among road victims’ associations.
Tomás, Paola, Agustín, Itxíar, Jordi, Blanca… each and every one of these people had a name. A body, a heart, a life. Others loved them. For this reason, as every year, the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims is a day devoted exclusively to them: to those who died or suffered very serious injuries that transformed their lives. Since 2005, the third Sunday of December has become a statement—partly desolate, partly hopeful—by millions of families worldwide.
This year also marks the twentieth anniversary of Stop Accidentes, an association dedicated to fighting road violence. This is how they put it in the manifesto available for download on their website. Recalling the early days: “[...] we were a few outraged families suffering alone, but firmly determined to fight road violence in the face of society’s indifference.”
In 2020 the NGO has drawn a pandemic parallel that sounds very coherent. “We are suffering TWO pandemics with very similar consequences, and beyond the pain and anguish of families, we are facing one of the most serious public health problems, one that affects the country’s social development and economy. Although in traffic we do have the vaccine: respecting the rules,” they conclude.
Second Decade of Action for Road Safety (2021-2030)
Considering that the first United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety has been, in the association’s words, a “failure”, Stop Accidentes highlights the ambitious targets for the 2021-2030 decade: no less than a 50 % reduction in road deaths and injuries. As for our country, the feeling is bittersweet. They explain why.
“In recent years Spain has managed to place itself among the leading countries in Europe that have reduced road accidents by more than 50 %. Many lives have been saved; however, we still have not achieved social disapproval and greater awareness of the risk in traffic.”
Demands to the Government: a human rights policy
Becoming aware of so-called road violence requires a greater commitment to education in the values of coexistence, respect, tolerance and responsibility. But the association also considers it “a moral duty of the Government” to commit to a Safe System, linking it with environmental, mobility, gender equality and urban planning issues.
“Justice must be restorative for victims, preventive for society and re-educational for the offender,” they explain. That is why they are calling for a Secretariat of State for all victims of violent, sudden and unexpected events. In their view, this would be the best way for them to feel supported by the authorities.
Victims and victims’ relatives—who have in turn formed a family, as they explain in this moving video—continue to provide advice, care and mutual support. With the fundamental idea that a large proportion of road accidents could be avoided.
Meanwhile, amid the work of accompaniment and campaigning, a minute’s silence will be observed this Sunday. For all the victims who lost their lives—or a significant part of them—on the roads. From the roadside assistance sector, which we at REAC represent, we join in that remembrance.