AAA Halloween traffic safety guide

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.

Lexington, Ky (WTVQ): According to AAA, on Halloween, it’s important for people to pay attention on the roads, and the traffic safety dangers, associated with the holiday, including drunk drivers.

Lori Weaver Hawkins of AAA says distracted driving, is just as dangerous as impaired driving, “and don’t be aggressive in your driving which includes running those stop signs and stop lights. Be sure that you obey all traffic signals.”

According to Safe Kids Worldwide, a global non-profit organization working to prevent childhood injury, children are more than twice as likely to be hit by a car and killed on Halloween than any other day of the year. This comes as the Federal Highway Administration finds that pedestrian deaths are increasing faster than all other traffic fatalities. Hawkins says, from 2021 to 2022, there’s been a more than 10 percent increase in the number of crashes involving a pedestrian. “In 2022, we had about 113 pedestrians killed in Kentucky compared to the year before that, in 2021 when we had 86 people killed,” she said.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that Halloween unfortunately is one of the top three days of the year for pedestrian injuries, and death.

According to the FHA, the nighttime death rates on U.S. roadways are three times higher than the daytime rate, meaning more than 75 percent of pedestrian deaths occur at night. While more than 40 percent of Halloween crash fatalities involve drunk drivers. Hawkins says one big safety tip is to make sure your child’s costume is visible. She says to “incorporate some reflective tape onto the costume itself, or make sure they have a flashlight or glow stick to carry so they are more visible to passing motorists.”

As well, Hawkins suggests talking to your child about proper behavior near streets and to remind them to stay on the sidewalk and be careful of driveways. “Children should always be in groups, and younger children should be accompanied by a parent or an older responsible teen,” she said.