My name is Cornelia Galavan and aI am 53 years old, I am from Bucharest - Romania.
Thirteen years ago I was the victim of an accident, which left me disabled.
This tragic accident was amplified by an inequitable act of justice which has been going on for thirteen years, having moral and material effects going far beyond those of the road crash.
In the act of justice I met corruption, abuse and crime, as well as a legislation favouring the authors of road traffic tragedies in Romania.
In between hospitals and courts of law I came to meet tens of victims of road crashes and families of the deceased, who accused the abuses and inequity of the act of justice concerning these tragedies.
Thus, I took the initiative of officially organising the first actions of protest in Romania by the victims of road crashes in front of state institutions as early as 1998, drawing a distrass signal to the way these tragedies are resolved, as well as to the passivity of the state to the high number of serious traffic accidents.
In order to prove the presence of corruption in the act of justice regarding criminal records I managed to bring before the court of law for the first time in Romania a judicial auto technical expert who was condemned for forged expertise.
Following the public involvement and the connections with tens of victims and mourning families, but also that of my personal tragedy and the abuses faced in resolving my tragedy, I took the initiative of starting for the first time an association of the victims of road safety under the name Association of the Victims of Road Traffic – AVAC.
Also as a first, I initiated and organised project ROAD TEARS ( LACRIMA RUTIERA) as early as 2001, establishing the commemoration of road victims yearly, six years before the Romanian Government recognised it. At present, the project which reached its Xth edition this year is running on the World Remembrance Day for Road Traffic Victims, as established by the UN.
The innovative project of a disabled victim in clutches was appreciated by high profile personalities such as President of Romania Traian Basescu, Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret, Chief of EU Delegation, Jonathan Scheele (UK), Minister of Administration and Internal Affairs Vasile Blaga and others, while at the Civil Society Gala – 2006 ROAD TEARS was granted the Special Award.
On an international plane, project ROAD TEARS is known and appreciated by the Council of Europe at a high level, and in 2009, UN- WHO invited me at the World Conference of Road Safety NGOs which took place in Brussels on May 7-8, as sole invitee from Romania.
Moreover, the project is currently recognised by several organisations and associations in Europe and in the world, which appreciate the initiative and the efforts of a road traffic victim to continue ROAD TEARS.
About my tragedy, the abuse and corruption in the act of justice, as well as to the civic and public involvement which led to personal initiatives for the first time in Romania are testimony the articles published in the mass-media over the 13 years of nightmare spent in the justice hell machine which ruined my life worse than the accident itself, but also the 13 years of civic and public involvement run with the purpose of reducing road tragedies, as well as for a “real road traffic justice” through which the lives of road traffic victims and the deceased should no longer be despised by the judges in a permissive legislation which favours the “road assassins”.
Best regards,
Cornelia Galavan
Road Tears (2001 - 2011)
ROMANIA.
Admin note: Thanks for sharing your experience with us. Strength and success in your work.
World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims
World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims
20 November 2011
Road traffic crashes kill nearly 1.3 million people every year and injure or disable as many as 50 million more. They are the leading cause of death among young people aged 10–24 years.
In October 2005, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution which calls for governments to mark the third Sunday in November each year as World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. The day was created as a means to give recognition to victims of road traffic crashes and the plight of their relatives who must cope with the emotional and practical consequences of these tragic events.
WHO and the UN Road Safety Collaboration encourage governments and nongovernmental organizations around the world to commemorate this day as a means of drawing the public’s attention to road traffic crashes, their consequences and costs, and the measures which can be taken to prevent them.
