Preventing Child Pedestrian Accidents This Halloween

Preventing Child Pedestrian Accidents This Halloween

Your biggest scare this Halloween may be something far more ordinary than ghouls and goblins—it could be your neighbor’s car. More than 20 years of data shows that Halloween is the most dangerous day of the year for child pedestrians.
From 1990 to 2010, there were three hundred and fifteen child pedestrian fatalities on Halloween. This is an average of 5.5 fatalities per Halloween—twice the average number of fatalities than on other days. Most of the accidents occurred during trick-or-treating hours. One quarter of the fatalities occurred between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m.; 60 percent of the accidents occurred between 5:00 and 9:00 p.m.
Children aged 12 to 15 were at the greatest risk. This group accounted for 32 percent of child pedestrian deaths; 23 percent of Halloween child pedestrian fatalities were children age 5 to 8.
How can you keep your child safe? Here are some trick-or-treat safety tips from the Atlanta car accident attorneys at Kaufman Law:

1. Stay visible. Children should wear brightly-colored costumes with reflective trim. Give your child a flashlight or glow stick to carry.
2. Plan your route in advance. Trick or treat on one side of the street and then go to other. This will keep children from darting across the road. Find a route that minimizes street crossings.
3. Stay on the sidewalk. If there are no sidewalks in your neighborhood, children should stay as close as possible to the edge of the road and walk facing traffic.
4. Don’t allow your child to cross the street in the middle of a block. Only 30 percent of Halloween pedestrian accidents occur at intersections or crosswalks.
5. Stay alert. It may be tempting to check your email while trick-or-treating, but it only takes a second for a young child to run across a driveway or dart into the street.

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Kaufman Law helps pedestrian accident victims in Atlanta and throughout Georgia. If you would like to discuss your pedestrian accident, please contact us today to discuss your FREE consultation.