CHICAGO — The City of Chicago and regional partners will mark today’s World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, an annual, global memorial event, with a special broadcast on independent Chicago TV station CAN TV. The broadcast will feature segments by the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the Northwest Center, two key partners in Vision Zero Chicago, a coordinated effort involving multiple City departments and local organizations with the goal of eliminating deaths and serious injuries from traffic crashes by 2026.  

The World Day of Remembrance, which officially occurs every third Sunday in November, is in memory of the many millions killed and injured on the world’s roads every year. Chicago is marking the event on November 22. More than 2,000 people are killed or seriously injured in traffic crashes in Chicago each year, with an average of five people seriously injured each day and one person killed every three days.  

“World Day of Remembrance is important in Chicago and in cities across the globe,” said CDOT Commissioner Gia Biagi. “Vision Zero reinforces the notion that we can reduce violence from traffic crashes that cause fatalities and serious injuries, to zero. We know it is possible - not only in the cities across the globe that have done it - but right here in Chicago.” 

The Chicago World Day of Remembrance event is intended to demonstrate the devastating toll that traffic deaths take in Chicago – and how traffic safety stakeholders are taking action to make our streets safer. Organizers urge the public and safety advocates to tune into the broadcast on cable channel 27 or streamed on the CAN TV website (https://cantv.org/live/).  

CDOT has leveraged dedicated funding of $10 million from Mayor Lightfoot’s Chicago Works infrastructure plan this year to carry out approximately 400 pedestrian safety projects across the City in 2021, on top of 300 such projects in 2020. These include safety treatments such as pedestrian refuge islands, curb bump-outs that shorten the crossing distance for pedestrians and other traffic calming measures.  

The Vision Zero Chicago Action Plan is based on the principles of the global Vision Zero movement. It incorporates traffic crash data, identifies the greatest opportunities for change, and establishes the City’s priorities and resources for addressing this public health challenge.  

Using crash data, the plan identified 43 High Crash Corridors and eight High Crash Areas in Chicago. Of the High Crash Areas, seven of the eight are on the West, Northwest, and South Sides of the City and one is downtown, where the higher crash rate is correlated with higher density and higher volumes of vehicles and pedestrians.  

Community-based planning processes are underway in the Northwest and South Sides in neighborhoods such as Belmont Cragin, Humboldt Park, Englewood, and Washington Park. 

To learn more about the Vision Zero Chicago commitment towards zero traffic deaths, go to http://visionzerochicago.org/.  

WHAT:  World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims 

WHEN:  Monday, November 22 at 6 p.m.  

WHERE:  Chicago, IL; TV broadcast (bit.ly/WDoRChicago2021) 

WHO:  Vision Zero Chicago, CDOT, Northwest Center, Commissioner Biagi  

HASHTAGS:  #WDoR2021 #ZeroTrafficCrashes 

MORE INFO: WorldDayofRemembrance.org