Halloween Is ‘Deadliest Day’ of the Year for Child Pedestrian Fatalities

Kids have a greater chance of being fatally injured by a car on Halloween than any other day of the year, including the Fourth of July and New Year’s Day, according to State Farm and research expert, Bert Sperling of Sperling’s BestPlaces, two companies that teamed up to better understand the risk kids face as they take to the streets in search of treats.

Sperling’s BestPlaces analyzed more than four million records in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) from 1990 – 2010 for children 0-18 years of age on October 31. That detailed analysis revealed the following:

• One hundred and fifteen child pedestrian fatalities occurred on Halloween over the 21 years of our 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 other days.

• Nearly one-fourth (26 out of 115) of accidents occurred from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. Over 60 percent of the accidents occurred in the 4-hour period from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m.

• Over 70 percent of the accidents occurred away from an intersection or crosswalk.

• Most of the fatalities occurred with children ages 12-15 (32 percent of all child fatalities), followed by children ages 5-8 (23 percent).

• Young drivers ages 15-25 accounted for nearly one-third of all fatal accidents involving child pedestrians on Halloween.

• Drivers ages 36-40 and 61-65 were involved in the fewest child pedestrian fatalities on Halloween. Together, these age groups accounted for nine child pedestrian fatalities (8 percent) in the 21 years of the study.

• Each of the last six years of the study (2005 – 2010) has seen Halloween child fatalities below the 21 year average of 5.5.

“State Farm wants children to be safe every day of the year whether they are inside or outside of a car,” says Kellie Clapper, assistant vice president of Public Affairs at State Farm. “The analysis of this data highlights the particular need for parents to be especially alert during Halloween.”

FARS is a data system conceived, designed, and developed by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis (NCSA) to assist the traffic safety community in identifying traffic safety problems and evaluating both motor vehicle safety standards and highway safety initiatives.

Fatality information derived from FARS includes motor vehicle traffic crashes that result in the death of an occupant of a vehicle or a non-motorist within 30 days of the crash. FARS contains data on all fatal traffic crashes within the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Source: State Farm and Sperlings’s BestPlaces