The victims' relatives’ day after

 

     Their lives ended abruptly and unexpectedly, plunging their loved ones into utter shock, disbelief, and despair. Nothing will ever be the same again. 

 

      The painful grieving process then begins, when reality confirms that it is not a nightmare from which they will wake up. It is true. That beloved son or daughter, that partner, that sibling, is no longer there. And you have to go on living. As before? The feelings are very strong and are mixed or alternate. The anger, for what happened, "why them", the guilty feeling associated with the idea or desire to have been able to do or say something to avoid the tragedy, to warn them. "Don't get on a stranger's motorcycle." "Be careful with traffic in the early morning." "Don't drink alcohol, or don't get in the car if the driver drank." "Don't speed." "Put on your helmet." There is a lot of anguish, the feeling of helplessness, sadness and not understanding.

 

     At first, people close to the loved ones accompany and suffer with them.  But soon, everyone goes on with their life as usual. But the relatives of those who left, or of those who were severely disabled, have a long way to go. Not only to find out exactly what happened, to claim justice, if there is a third party responsible, but also to gather inner strength to continue living, to accept what happened and to learn to live a different life with their loved ones, who are no longer physically there, but in their hearts. Many are able to mourn and rebuild their lives. Others do not succeed. They become psychologically and physically ill. 

 

     That is why this day, the third Sunday of November, remembers all traffic victims who have lost their lives, or their health severely, on the streets and roads. But also to the other victims, their loved ones, who must rebuild internally to move forward. Who need government support to cope with the loss. That need psychological care and legal advice from the first hour, and afterwards, in order to cope with their grief and not be victimized a second time by the State.   But they also need the authorities to assume their responsibility with all the necessary actions to increase road safety, as proposed in the Global Plan for the Decade of Action, and significantly reduce the number of road traffic victims. That is the best tribute in their memory.