21 November is the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, established by the United Nations in 2005. Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, in his message recalls that "every year 1.3 million people lose their lives in road accidents and 50 million are injured. This is the leading cause of death for children and young people. One of the best ways to remember and honour the victims is to do our part to make roads safer around the world." These are staggering figures that too often fade into silence or are clumsily slipped into media reports that describe events using inaccurate language, rooted in a car-centric view of the road, which ends up blaming the victims through a distorted narrative.

Road safety and sustainable mobility

More liveable, human-scale, less polluted and safer cities are what the UN and the many national and international associations and campaigns are calling for, fighting for investment that encourages cycling, walking and the use of public transport. Road safety goes hand in hand with the issue of sustainable mobility, as the Associazione italiana vittime della strada also emphasises: "Stop the road carnage and reduce environmental pollution, by acting on prevention. On the occasion of the Day of Remembrance, we are launching a civilisational challenge: to develop local prevention projects in synergy between public institutions and civil society organisations, in order to achieve the 'zero victims' goal in the decade 2021–2030." There are no "acceptable" figures for people who die on the road — the only acceptable number is zero. In Italy, according to the Osservatorio Asaps, 103 cyclists died in the first eight months of 2022.

Road violence: how to address the problem

To tackle the problem, there are effective measures that can be adopted, also informed by the safety in numbers approach (whereby, for example, the more people cycle, the more the risk of collisions with car drivers is reduced), the reduction of speed limits within urban areas, and 30 km/h zones, which are effective in moderating traffic.
For its part, the Fondazione Michele Scarponi, created following the death of the cycling champion in 2017 during a training ride, reiterates that "the road belongs to everyone, starting with the most vulnerable." Bringing about change therefore requires education on correct road behaviour and a culture of respect for rules and for others. The World Day offers an opportunity to give voice to all of this — it is not just an act of remembrance but a call, at a global level, for change.