There is a call for drivers to be more careful on the road and it comes from those who have already lost a loved one.
This comes as a busy travel time is getting underway with millions expected to hit the highways for the Thanksgiving holiday.
In Bushnell Park in Hartford on Sunday, families of victims, advocates and various leaders gathered for an event to commemorate the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.
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“Bringing us together gives comfort that we are not alone. We’re not alone in the way this sudden, horrific and preventable loss has happened,” said Judy Proctor, of Fairfield.
Judy and Charles Proctor of Fairfield hold onto memories of their son, Charlie.
He passed away after being struck by a car while riding his bike.
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“We are here with our grief and our love and our anger to hopefully spark others to change our culture so we don’t have the speeding and the distracted driving and change our roadways so they will be safer,” said Judy Proctor.
Organizers say this is the first time a statewide event was held to mark this international occasion.
“We are celebrating and honoring the people who we’ve lost here in Connecticut,” said Amy Watkins, Connecticut Children’s Injury Prevention Center assistant manager.
And there are so many tragically taken too soon.
There was a display of 659 flags representing those who died on our state roadways last year and so far this year.
White ones for those killed in a car, red for those who died while walking or riding a bike.
“We need to act. We need to remember these people. In their honor, we need to act and create change to slow traffic and make our roads safer for everybody,” said Watkins.
Advocates say there has been some progress with the legislature earlier this year passing the Vision Zero bill.
Among its measures was allowing communities to install cameras to catch cars running red lights or speeding.
Here in the U.S., we’re told pedestrian and bicyclist deaths are at their highest levels in more than four decades.
