Research has shown that Halloween is an exceptionally dangerous time for people to walk the streets, not because of the walking dead or the return of Freddy Krueger, but because of car accidents.
A study conducted in 2019 by medical experts at the University of British Columbia found that far more pedestrians are hit by cars on Halloween compared to other nights.
They discovered that 608 pedestrian fatalities occurred in the Halloween nights they observed, while 608 pedestrian fatalities occurred in the 84 control nights. That means the risk of a pedestrian being killed in a car crash was 43 percent higher on Halloween compared to other nights.
Other investigation conducted by the CDC in 1997 reached similar results and concluded that the number of child pedestrian fatalities quadrupled on Halloween nights compared to all other nights.
The reason for this notable increase is simply because Halloween sees trick-or-treaters walking through residential neighborhoods. More people walking down the street means higher chances of a collision with a vehicle.
Rest assured, though, researchers don’t think banning Halloween is the answer.
“Halloween trick-or-treating encourages creativity, physical activity, and neighborhood involvement. Trick-or-treating should not be abolished in a misguided effort to eliminate the risk associated with Halloween,” the study authors write.
Instead, the researchers simply hope to promote greater awareness of the problem. They also encourage lawmakers, doctors and parents to make residential streets safer on Halloween by introducing measures like temporary speed limits and limiting on-street parking.
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2019