El Paso Drivers Can Prevent Deadly Pedestrian Accidents On Halloween

People walking

Motorists who are out on Halloween night need to be aware there is a greater chance of being involved in a car accident. Halloween is a time when thousands of children go trick-or-treating, sometimes without parental supervision. Drivers are expected to exercise reasonable care at all times as they encounter these young children on the road.

If drivers know about the dangers of kids on Halloween and use extra precaution to try to prevent accidents with pedestrians, lives could be saved and serious injuries prevented.

How Can El Paso Drivers Help Prevent Deadly Pedestrian Car Accidents on Halloween?

Understanding car accident risks is the first step towards mitigating those risks. Drivers who plan to be on the road on Halloween night should be aware of data showing the car accident pedestrian death rate for children doubles. According to Indiana University, twice as many kids are struck by cars and killed on Halloween as compared with on any other days of the year.

Many of these children lose their lives because they are hit in the middle of the road. Republican Herald reports 70 percent of pedestrian crashes resulting in the death of children on Halloween end up happening away from crosswalks or intersections. Kids can dart out in between cars in a second, stepping into the path of an oncoming car.

Drivers should also be aware of the specific times at which the risk is highest for children. The death rate for pedestrian crashes involving children is the highest between 4:00 PM and 10:00 PM on Halloween night. This is the time the greatest number of children are going to be out trick-or-treating.

By knowing when kids are likely to be on the road, drivers can try to stay out of residential areas where children are most likely to be trick-or-treating. Drivers who do travel through residential locations should be sure they go slowly at all times so they can better spot children and so their momentum will be reduced so it won’t take as long to stop if they hit the brakes when a child runs into their path. If the driver is going slow and hits a child, the child is also much more likely to survive the accident than if the driver is traveling faster.

Safe Kids also has some other tips for drivers who plan to be in their vehicles on Halloween night. Drivers are urged to turn their headlights on earlier in the night than they otherwise would do so, because the headlights will make it easier for them to see children who are out.

Drivers should anticipate not just heavier traffic, but also that children may do something unpredictable like running into the roads. They should be aware children may have masks which limit visibility and should not always assume a child has seen a car coming. Finally, drivers need to be certain to avoid using their cell phone or paying attention to any other distractions in the car which could cause them not to see a child until it is too late to stop.