Kids twice as likely to get hit by a car, killed on Halloween, AAA warns

A good scare is in good fun on Halloween, but AAA warns, not when it comes to child pedestrian safety.

According to Safe Kids Worldwide, children are more than twice as likely to be hit by a car and killed on Halloween than any other day of the year.

Excited trick-or-treaters often forget about safety, so drivers, party-goers and parents must be even more alert, as the risk of kids being injured by moving vehicles increases greatly.

“With an increased risk of pedestrian crashes on Halloween night, AAA Mid-Atlantic urges parents to take the time to make trick-or-treaters and their costumes safer and more visible to motorists,” said Ken Grant, manager of Public and Government Affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “In addition, motorists must eliminate distractions, slow down and watch for children, as well as have a completely sober designated driver if drinking is part of a Halloween celebration.”

Halloween is also a statistically dangerous night for drunk driving. The combination of drinking and increased pedestrian traffic on Halloween is a deadly combination. AAA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA) found that: One-fourth of all pedestrian deaths ranging in age from 5-14 occurred in the four days leading up to Halloween (October 28-31) in 2017.

On Halloween night 2017, 89 people were fatally injured in a traffic crash, with 13 percent involving alcohol. In 2017, more than half of pedestrian fatalities on Halloween occurred with the pedestrian outside of a marked crosswalk.

Delaware State Police crash data reported 2,741 crashes where a distracted driver was a contributing factor in 2018. A drunk driver was a contributing factor in 1,056 crashes in 2018.