Joe Stone was 25 when he was hit by a driver while trying to cross the street near his home in 2013. Danielle Sale died in 2010, at the age of 22. Henry Zietlow was 18 when he was killed in a traffic crash in 2019. Seamus DuBarry was just 22 months old when he was killed, also in 2010. Joey Capone was killed in 2022, at the age of 36. Wayne Thomas Baxter-Houff, 58, was killed in a collision with an Amtrak train just 12 days ago. 

Each of these deaths contributed to a tally of people whose lives were lost to traffic violence. There are hundreds of thousands more people who have been killed in traffic crashes across the United States over the last 15 years, a toll that can be difficult to comprehend. Nationally, motor vehicle fatalities hovered around 32,000 annually in the early 2010s, but rose to more than 40,000 per year in more recent years. 

But the families and friends of the victims of traffic violence know their loved ones were much more than a statistic, and they want others to recognize the human cost of traffic violence, too. 

Posters showing loved ones lost to traffic violence. 

On Sunday morning, a group of about 80 Portlanders gathered under a shelter at Luuwit View Park in honor of the annual, internationally-recognized World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. The attendees included a handful of people who have lost family and friends in Portland traffic crashes. They stood at the front of the group, holding posters with photos of the loved ones they lost. 

“For family members, every single day is a day of remembrance. It never goes away,” Nathan Zietlow, Henry Zietlow’s father, said at the Portland World Day of Remembrance, held Sunday morning at Luuwit View Park. “It’s not something you recover from, because grief is love, and it doesn’t dissipate with time. All we can try to do is learn how to carry it and live with it.” 

Henry Zietlow was killed in Wisconsin. His parents now live in Portland. 

The World Day of Remembrance, which takes place annually on the third Sunday of November, is partially a memorial, but it’s also meant to galvanize people to act, hopefully building a future where streets are safer and people are less likely to die in preventable crashes. In 2023, a record 69 people were killed in traffic crashes on Portland streets. The number of deaths was lower in 2024, when 58 people were killed. But the number of people dying on Portland’s streets each year has trended higher in recent years, despite the city’s 2015 vow to end traffic deaths and serious injuries.

This year’s event revolved around “safe speeds,” with speakers discussing ways to stop so-called “super speeders”—people who are repeatedly cited for driving above the speed limit—from continuing to cause harm. 

Families of people lost to traffic violence speak at the World Day of Remembrance. 

Transportation safety advocates in Portland are calling on the Oregon Legislature to enact legislation that would tamp down on speeding across the state. Specifically, they want elected officials to support Intelligent Speed Assistance technology, which involves devices that use GPS and speed limit data, to limit violations among proven “super speeders.” The technology can be installed in cars and programmed to provide a range of services, including activating warnings and physically limiting vehicles from exceeding a certain speed. 

Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Washington state have all recently adopted rules requiring drivers with a history of reckless driving to install speed-limiting technology in their vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has determined the technology to be an effective way to reduce deaths and injuries caused by traffic crashes, if it’s widely deployed. 

“This is a technology that is proactive. It helps us prevent harm before it happens,” Sarah Risser, Henry Zietlow’s mother, said at Sunday’s event. 

Risser said after losing her son, she experienced a “secondary trauma” after realizing “the justice system isn’t really set up to respond in a way that feels just.” But even if the justice system did step up, or if the government offered services to survivors of traffic violence, it wouldn’t have saved her son. That’s why Risser and others are looking to policies that could preemptively keep people safe, instead of seeking justice after the fact. 

PBOT Director Millicent Williams was among the attendees at Sunday's event. 

Advocates are looking to the 2027 state legislative session to bring a bill that would enact speed-limiting technology requirements. They also hope the Legislature will approve increased funding for transportation safety programs during the session in 2027, having failed to pass a transportation bill earlier this year that included significant investments in safety. Despite the gridlocked political environment in Salem, representatives vowed to keep pushing for improvements. 

“I don't know how long it's going to take, hopefully not very long,” Representative Dacia Grayber said. “But we will mark this moment right now where we make a change, and so one day we don't have to gather and have this memorial anymore. We can gather and talk about survivors and the lives that have been saved.” 

East Portland’s Luuwit View Park, where this year’s local World Day of Remembrance event was held, is an oasis surrounded by some of Portland’s most dangerous streets. East Portland has long seen more traffic crash deaths and injuries than the rest of the city, particularly along high-crash arterials including 82nd, 102nd, and 122nd Avenues. In a matter of a few hours on the evening of October 29, three people were killed in separate traffic crashes in outer East Portland. 

“We have so much to invest to make up for the lost time and the lost lives in East Portland. It's extremely hard work and it's expensive, but it's a price that's already been paid by the families who lost everything,” Portland City Councilor Jamie Dunphy, who represents East Portland, said at the event. “We have to do better. We have to do more. Right now, there's a lot of good work and a lot of goodwill, but we have to translate that into action, because if we don't see it start changing, it doesn't matter.” 

Councilor Jamie Dunphy. 

Many of the loved ones of people lost to traffic violence make the trek to Portland’s World Day of Remembrance every year. Through advocacy organizations like Families for Safe Streets, they’ve found some comfort in community with others who have experienced similar tragedies, and they’ve found some solace in taking action. 

“This event has helped us heal, and it's also helped the world heal,” David Sale, whose daughter Danielle was hit and killed by a TriMet bus driver in 2010, said. “I really appreciate all the agencies and people that are involved in this event. I can’t say it enough.” 

An attendee lights a candle in honor of those lost. 

Kim Stone said she and her family have been grieving every day since her son Joe was killed 12 years ago. 

“I want to thank everybody for being here to help us in our grief,” Stone said. “A lot of people came to Joe’s aid. A passing motorist stopped and prayed for him, and a woman came out from a nearby apartment and put a blanket on him. Those people I’ve never met, I’ll be forever grateful for their assistance.”