World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, third Sunday of November – today’s event at the Christos Polentas Park in Neratzia, Voukoulies
The Christos Polentas Park in Neratzia, Voukoulies, is dedicated to the memory of road traffic victims and their families.
The common observation of representatives of institutions and authorities today was: “The struggle to improve road safety on Crete is ongoing and there are still many steps to be taken to achieve this goal”.
“REMEMBER those who died.
SUPPORT those who survived.
ACT to save lives”.
(WHO, UN road safety)
Today is World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims and on everyone’s mind is the situation in Crete, one of the regions with the highest number of road accidents in Greece, particularly fatal ones.
A common observation of those who participated in the event today held at the “Christos Polentas” Park in the Municipality of Platanias is that the struggle to improve road safety on the island is ongoing and there are still many steps to be taken to achieve this goal.
When people are killed or severely injured in road traffic collisions before their time, the world loses more than just individuals — it loses their potential, their ideas, their future impact on society. They become lost talents. The statistic that “of all-cause mortality, road traffic injury remains the leading cause of death for children and young people” is straight-forward and haunting.
The event was attended, among others, by representatives of institutions and authorities, security forces and members of parliament of the Prefecture, Sevi Voloudaki and Alexandros Markogiannakis, who honored the memory of the victims and jointly emphasized the need for progress both in the VOAK and in road safety in general,
and, of course, Stavros Polentas, president of the Panhellenic Association for Relief & Solidarity for Victims of
After the memorial service, the event continued at the “Nerantzia” Event Hall, with a statement by Mr. Tachiaos and a speech by Nikolaos Ilios, professor at the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Thessaly, who stressed that “every year we lose the population of a large village to traffic accidents”. He suggested that the fines collected should go towards projects to improve road infrastructure.
More about today’s event – zarpanews.gr:
Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Nikos Tachiaos’ statement with regard to the VOAK,
video – tatement with Deputy Regional Governor Nikos Kalogeris,
Mr. Stavros Polentas, initiator of the Park, president of the Panhellenic Association for Relief & Solidarity for Victims of
About the memorial sculpture at the Polentas Park, dedicated to the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020), unveiled at the Park “Christos Polentas” .
ABOUT THE PARK:
On 28th July 2004, Christos Polentas, aged 25, was tragically and unjustly killed in a road accident at Neratzia when travelling from Paleochora to Chania.
The tragic event immediately took serious and unprecedented dimensions and was treated with respect and love both by the Greek Orthodox Church, politicians and by the local Government of the Prefecture of Chania.
At Neratzia, on the road from Tavronitis – Voukoulies towards Paleochora, the Christos Polentas Park was built, with a stone chapel in memory of Christos Polentas and the victims of road accidents and their families.
In November 2011, on World Day of Remembrance of victims of road accidents, a memorial sculpture dedicated to the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020) was unveiled at the Park Christos Polentas –
the 1st UN Monument on Road Safety by decision of UN Secretary General Ba Ki Moon.
The sculpture represents an olive-tree growing on the wild rocks of Crete, with five roots symbolizing the permanent members of the UN Security Council, five branches representing the world’s continents and one hundred ninety-three leaves representing the UN member States at that time.
The park, a serene and well-maintained park, also houses the Church of Saint Christopher, the patron saint of motorists, in memory of all traffic accident victims.
The park is also the headquarters of the Pan-Hellenic Association for Support and Solidarity for the Families of Traffic Accident Victims, “Saint Christopher.”
The Christos Polentas Park, recognized by the UN, also houses the “Life giving source” monument, presented by former Prime Minister George Papandreou in 2010.
Inauguration of the sculpture in Polentas Park, dedicated to the UN and the Decade of Action for Road Safety in Chania: https://www.unece.org/?id=27473
For the complete history of the POLENTAS PARK click here.
Further photos here.
