The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (WDR) is commemorated in places around the world on the third Sunday of November each year. It remembers the many millions who have been killed and seriously injured by automobiles and trucks on the world’s roads. It acknowledges the suffering of all affected victims, families and communities – millions added each year to countless millions already suffering: a truly tremendous cumulative toll. About 35,000 – 40,000 Americans are killed by cars each year. For comparison, 54,000 American soldiers died in the long Viet Nam war.
The City of Boulder held a WDR event at the old County Courthouse on the mall, followed by a walk to the high school. The organization It Could Be Me co-sponsored and their president and founder Triny Willerton led the ceremony. She and three others spoke about incidents of traffic violence that affected them.
I participated as a member of the Community Cycles Advocacy Committee, joined by committee members Tila Duhaime, Michael Le Desma, Mike Mills, and Martha Roskowski. Several City Council members attended.
We walked to the Boulder high school to remember and honor Magnus White, a teen mountain bike athlete who was killed by a car driver on the Diagonal Highway 119 this year while riding on that road’s wide shoulder. At the school many placed flowers into a vase as a gesture.