Road Worker Day of Remembrance (RWDOR) is held every year on 9 November to honour the road workers who have lost their lives or been seriously injured while working on Australian roads. It is championed by Peter Frazer OAM and the Safer Australian Roads and Highways (SARAH) Group, the founders of National Road Safety Week. In 2026 it falls on Monday 9 November. The message is simple: slow down, be patient through work zones and protect the people keeping our roads safe, because everyone deserves to make it home safely.
They show up every day. In all conditions. On busy roads, in the dark, and just metres from moving traffic to keep us safe. And every time a vehicle speeds past too close, their lives are on the line.
They look after us. Let’s look after them too.
Honour. Remember. Protect.
Who Do We Remember on Road Worker Day of Remembrance 2026?
We say their names because they were more than names. They were people who were loved, who had families, hopes and tomorrows.
Timmy Rakei
Timmy Rakei was a 44-year-old father of four and one of our own. On 9 November 2021 he was working as a Traffic Controller at a roadworks site in Carrum Downs, in Melbourne’s south-east, when he was struck and killed by a speeding, disqualified driver. A colleague was also badly injured in this same incident. A truck-mounted attenuator (TMA) has since been dedicated in Timmy’s honour, so his name travels with the crews he worked beside.
Suzanne Caudell
Suzanne Caudell was 64, a wife and a mother. She went to work one day and didn’t come home. On 16 January 2013 she was killed while working as a Traffic Controller on the Bruce Highway at Marlborough in Central Queensland. Suzanne was the first Australian female Traffic Controller work-related fatality.
Sarah Frazer
Sarah Frazer was 23 and on her way to start university in Wagga Wagga in February 2012 when her car broke down on the Hume Highway near Mittagong and she was killed by a passing truck. Her father, Peter Frazer, turned that unimaginable loss into a mission to make our roads safer. He founded the SARAH Group and National Road Safety Week, and his advocacy helped bring in Sarah’s Rule, which protects people working at the roadside.
We also remember every other worker in our past whose life was changed, or cut short too fast, and the families, friends and crews who still carry that loss.
Why Does Road Worker Safety Matter to Every Driver?
Road worker safety matters to every driver because the people inside the hi-vis are someone’s mother, father, husband, wife, brother or sister. Behind every vest is a person with a life beyond the work zone: a family, friends and someone looking forward to seeing them at the end of the shift.
Every day, road workers step onto the road trusting others to see them. They wear the hi-vis, place the cones and hold the signs, standing just metres from passing vehicles. And behind each one of them is someone waiting for them to come home: a partner, a parent, a child, a friend. Underneath the hi-vis is a person. A life that matters.
Their stories remind us that road safety is never about statistics. It is about people. It is about families. It is about getting home safely.
How Can Drivers Help Protect Road Workers in Work Zones?
Drivers protect road workers by slowing down to the posted speed, following the directions of Traffic Controllers and giving crews the patience and space to do their job safely.
Slow down.
Stay alert.
Put the phone away.
Follow the signs and the Stop/Slow bat.
So when you see the cones ahead, please slow down. When you see our hi-vis, remember there is a person inside it. Please give us the patience to do our job safely, because no family should ever have to wait when no one is coming home.
We cannot change what happened yesterday. But together, we can change what will happen tomorrow.
How Can Organisations and Individuals Support #RWDOR 2026?
Anyone can support Road Worker Day of Remembrance by sharing the free campaign assets on social media found here in the week leading up to 9 November and on the day itself, using the hashtag #RWDOR.
Download the free assets: videos, animated tiles, social tiles, LinkedIn and Facebook banners and an A4 poster are available at roadsafetyweek.com.au/rwdor. Companies and individuals are welcome to use them on their own channels.
Share with #RWDOR: post during the lead-up week and again on Monday 9 November to help honour those we have lost, those injured and those still working on our roads.
Take a moment on the day: pause with your team, your crew or your family to reflect on the people behind the hi-vis.
Talk to the drivers in your life: especially learner drivers, about slowing down and following the signs through every work zone.
Thank You
To every road worker out on our roads today: thank you. To the families who still wait for someone who isn’t coming home: we remember with you. And to Peter Frazer OAM, the SARAH Group and every partner, council and business sharing this message: thank you for keeping these names alive.
For Suzanne.
For Timmy.
For Sarah.
For every road worker we have lost. For every family left behind. And for every person still standing on our roads today.
Slow down. Take care. Protect the protectors.