Raleigh candlelight vigil honors people killed in NC crashes last year

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Friday, December 6, 2024
Candlelight vigil honors people killed in NC crashes last year
At the ceremony, the Fraser fir tree will have 1,686 ornament bulbs, one for each person killed in the crash in 2023.

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- A candlelight vigil on Friday will honor the people killed in vehicle crashes in North Carolina last year.

The 27th annual 'Tree of Life' memorial ceremony aims to remind drivers to travel safely by not speeding, wearing seatbelts and never driving while impaired. The Fraser fir tree will have 1,686 ornament bulbs, one for each person killed in the crash in 2023, and a vocalist will perform.

The event will feature speakers N.C. Department of Public Safety Secretary Eddie Buffaloe Jr., GHSP Director Mark Ezzell, and N.C. Department of Transportation Chief Operating Officer Chris Peoples. Other speakers include N.C. MADD Director Jennifer Lichtneger and victims of vehicle crashes caused by impaired and distracted drivers.

The ceremony will be held at the State Capitol, starting at 6 p.m. It is hosted by the Governor's Highway Safety Program and Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

This comes after four people were killed in a wrong-way crash on Thursday afternoon in Wilson County.

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