Halloween is the Deadliest Day of the Year for Pedestrian Child Accidents in America
According to Bert Sperling of 'Sperling’s Best Places,' kids are more likely to be killed by a car on Halloween night than any other day/night of the year and that includes July 4th, Christmas and New Year’s eve/day. So remember that this Halloween is no different, kids take to the streets in search of candy and other treats, darting in and out between parked cars, and never once thinking of the added traffic.
F.A.R.S. (Fatality Analysis Reporting System) is the FARS is a nationwide data gathering system, that provides the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) statistical data and FARS keeps up with all the data of years past.
Sperling’s BestPlaces analyzed more than four million records in the FARS system, ranging from 1990 until 2010 for children ages 0 to18 years of age on October 31. That detailed analysis revealed the following:
Halloween is deadliest day of the year for pedestrian accidents involving children.
One hundred and fifteen child pedestrian fatalities occurred on Halloween over the 21 years of analysis. That is an average of 5.5 fatalities each year on October 31, which is more than double the average number of 2.6 fatalities for any other day.
According to the FARS statistics:
The “Deadliest Hour” Nearly for accidents to occur is from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. (over 60% of the accidents occurred in the 4-hour period from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m.)
Middle of the Block is the most hazardous location in a neighborhood where over 70% of the accidents occurred (away from an intersection or crosswalk).
Ages Most at Risk on Halloween night occurred with children ages 12-15 (32% of all child fatalities, followed by children ages 5-8 at 23%).
Drivers Who Posed the Greatest Risk are young drivers ages 15-25, they accounted for nearly a third of all fatalities involving children on Halloween.
Drivers Who Posed the Lowest Risk were ages 36-40 and drivers that are 61-65 are involved in the fewest child pedestrian fatalities. Together, these age groups accounted for nine child pedestrian fatalities (8%) in the 21 years of the study.
Fatalities Appear to be Declining, the last six years of the study (2005 – 2010) has seen Halloween child fatalities below the 21 year average of 5.5.
Another great source for data and information on children is the C.D.C. Centers for Disease Control. Recently the CDC reported on what we as responsible adults can do to keep our children safe and healthy. The one trick that just overtly stuck out to me was the use of 'face painting' instead of a mask that can obscure a child's sight.
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