It’s no secret that people become a little more reckless on Halloween, but the true reality of the holiday is that neighborhood pranks aren’t the only things that go up. Accidents and crime increase as well.
The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration reports that traffic accidents involving pedestrians routinely increase on Halloween, and last year the New York Times released a story Deadly Halloween Across the Nation.
In 2011, 38 percent of fatalities on Halloween night occurred in a crash involving a driver or a motorcyclist with a BAC of .08 or higher and 11 percent of those fatalities involved a pedestrian. In fact, over the five years from 2007-2011, 23 percent of pedestrian fatalities on Halloween night involved a drunk driver. NHTSA offers the following safety tips to help ensure a safer Halloween.
While we can easily become hyperbolic and overreact to this news, we can also take heed.
This Halloween, make sure you have a plan to get home safely and don’t get behind the wheel.