BEIRUT: First lady Wafaa Sleiman called Sunday for working toward reducing road traffic fatalities on the occasion of World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, the National News Agency reported.

“We meet today ... not only to express sorrow and regret toward road victims but also to launch together, as officials and civil organizations, a shout in order to work toward reducing traffic fatalities,” Sleiman said during the ceremony organized by Kun Hadi at UNESCO Palace.

Sleiman cited reckless driving, speeding, poor roads and the lack of a modern traffic system as some of the reasons for the high number of road traffic injuries and deaths which reached 3,000 in the first half of 2011 alone.