Pedestrians killed in car crashes

[123everton]

Do you think a national day of mourning should be called annually on a set date for pedestrians killed in road traffic accidents? I feel the sight of so many families mourning their loved ones on our streets would make people realise just how many die, are dying on our roads every year.

[jake-the-peg]

Maybe but you also have to remember that we have just one of the best road safety record in the world in terms of road deaths compared to the size of our population.

Yes I know over 3,500 people a day die on our roads.

But that is less than died in 1926

Not per head of population, not per car -absolute in fact 2004 had the lowest road deaths since records began.

We can do more, but road deaths is an area where gigantic improvements have been seen

[donegal]

we have one in ireland, but about 300 or over are killed on irish roads every year ,which is very high as we a population of only 5 million.

[WaldoMcFroog]

Think that might be 3,600 a year JTP - otherwise you've got 1.3 million road deaths a year in the UK! ;-)

Looking at the ONS, I think that might also be for ALL deaths in road accidents. In 2005, there were 671 pedestrian deaths out of 3,201 total road deaths:

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=120 8

Anyway, apparently there already is a national day of mourning, "A Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims", started by the UK charity RoadPeace and adopted by the UN National Assembly in 2005. Rather suggests it's not terribly high profile.

[Gromit]

This graph illustrates how the death rate has declined over the years:

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id =1208

[123everton]

I know our raods are safer in cpmparison to other countries, but I feel that having 1 day in the year, that's also a bank hoilday, would allow families who have suffered this loss to come together whilst helping to remind us to try harder and shaming the guilty.
There is talk of adding more bank holidays to the calender, I'm just trying to think of reasons for them.

[aims1202]

I think that is a really good idea, it would make people think about it more, as they are rarely in the news. The families of those who die should be given as much thought as the deaths we do hear about. It would be comfort for them to know others care. If the same amount of people died in one day we would remember them on that day every year.

[123everton]

It's not only that people don't realise how many people go through something like this until it happens to them. to see scores of others going through the same thing on the streets would help bring them together and maybe (hopefully) help them cope better.