Halloween weekend brings traffic safety concerns

As Halloween approaches, AAA is raising awareness for dangerous traffic safety concerns – increased pedestrian activity and drunk driving – both of which converge this Halloween weekend. The ghostly holiday falls on a Sunday this year, allowing for weekend-long celebrations and trick-or-treating.

Recent CDC Halloween guidelines encourage families to celebrate Halloween, though still urge preventative strategies – staying outside, wearing masks, and safely enjoying the spooky spirits of the season.

Halloween Dangers: Child Pedestrian Safety and Drunk Driving

A scare in good fun is expected 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.
• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that Halloween is consistently one of the top three days of the year for pedestrian injuries and fatalities.

Creative costumes, trick-or-treating and bags full of goodies become top Halloween priorities, but safety often becomes an afterthought. Excited trick-or-treaters can 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.

“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 drivers,” said Morgan Dean, 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:

• On Halloween night 2019, 89 people were fatally injured in a traffic crash, with 13 percent involving alcohol.
• From 2015 – 2019, 126 people were killed in drunk-driving crashes on Halloween night (NHTSA)
• During that period, 41 percent of all people killed in motor vehicle crashes on Halloween night were in crashes involving a drunk driver. (NHTSA)
• During Halloween night 2019, there were 21 vehicle occupants and four pedestrians killed in drunk driving crashes. (NHTSA)

In Virginia, DMV reports:

• 126 pedestrians were killed and 1,896 were injured in crashes in 2019.
• A distracted driver was a contributing factor in 23,246 crashes in 2019.
• A drunk driver was a contributing factor in 7,048 crashes in 2019.
• Alcohol-related fatalities were 32% of total traffic fatalities in Virginia in 2019.

AAA Halloween Safety Tips

Drivers

• Do not use your phone while behind the wheel, so you can focus on the road and trick-or-treaters.
• Slow down in residential neighborhoods and obey all traffic signs and signals. Drive at least 5 mph below the posted speed limit to give yourself extra time to react to children who may dart into the street. Broaden your scanning by looking for children left and right into yards and on front porches.
• Look for children crossing the street. They may not be paying attention to traffic and may cross the street mid-block or between parked cars.
• Carefully enter and exit driveways and alleys, taking extra care if you are backing up or turning.

Parents

• Make sure Halloween costumes are flame-retardant and light in color to improve visibility.
• Be bright at night – have trick-or-treaters use glow sticks or wear retro-reflective tape on costumes and on treat buckets.
• Ensure disguises don’t obstruct vision and avoid full facemasks.
• Create face masks that coordinate with costumes rather than regular costume masks.  This won’t obstruct vision and follows health and safety guidelines for COVID-19.
• Instead, use nontoxic face paint. Also, watch the length of billowy costumes to help avoid tripping.
• Ensure any props are flexible and blunt-tipped to avoid injury from tripping or horseplay.
• Ask an adult or older child to supervise children under age 12.
• Instruct children to travel only in familiar areas and along established routes.
• Teach children to stop only at well-lit houses and to never to enter a stranger’s home or garage.
• Review trick-or-treating safety precautions, including pedestrian and traffic safety rules.

Trick-or-Treaters

• Stay on sidewalks and avoid walking in streets if possible.
• If there are no sidewalks, walk on the left side of the road, facing traffic.
• Look both ways and listen for traffic before crossing the street.
• Watch for cars turning or backing up.
• Cross streets only at the corner, using traffic signals and crosswalks, and never cross between parked vehicles or mid-block.
• Trick-or-treat in a group if someone older cannot go with you.
• Tell your parents where you are going.
• Carry a flashlight containing fresh batteries. Never shine flashlights into the eyes of oncoming drivers.

Party Goers

• Arrange a safe ride home and/or designate a driver before partaking in any festivities.
• Always designate a sober driver.
• If you are drunk, take a taxi or ride share service, call a sober friend or family member, or use public transportation.
• Before leaving for a party, load ride share apps or put numbers of local cab companies or your designated driver(s) into your phone.
• Walking impaired can be as dangerous as drunk driving. Designate a sober friend to walk you home.
• If you see a drunk driver on the road, contact local law enforcement.
• If you know someone who is about to drive or ride impaired, take their keys and help them make safe travel arrangements to where they are going.