You have probably heard that Halloween is the deadliest day of the year for child pedestrians. And you've probably heard the safety tips: Don't wear masks, don't wear dark colors, do wear reflective tape and carry glow sticks. Those aren't bad suggestions, but they place the entire responsibility of avoiding tragedy on the child. Meanwhile, adults continue to drive recklessly and build cities and streets that are hostile to kids and families.
The truth is, the Halloween spike in fatalities highlights "deficiencies of the built environment (lack of sidewalks, unsafe street crossings), shortcomings in public policy (insufficient space for play), and failures in traffic control (excessive speed)" that exist all year round.
This isn't new research, and the solutions aren't new, either. The "monster" of traffic violence does the most damage on Halloween, but it preys on families every day of the year. Will we be brave enough to defeat the monster once and for all? Or will we keep feeding it victim-blaming rhetoric and "quick hacks"? If you are ready to make your streets safer for all of your neighbors, we have a few ideas to get you started:
BikeWalkKC's tips for safer streets on Halloween
- Advocate for safer streets that prioritize the safety of our most vulnerable neighbors. Go to public meetings. Email your city leaders. Talk to your neighborhood association. Plan and build communities for people, not cars.
- Walk, bike, and take the bus more often. Ask your child's school to install a bike rack. Use Google Maps or the Transit App to plan a bus route. When people experience life outside of a vehicle, they develop empathy for others that walk/bike/bus. And fewer drivers means fewer serious crashes.
- Prioritize the safety of people when you drive. Stop for pedestrians. Give bicyclists plenty of space. Slow down. Everyone deserves to travel safely!
Trunk-or-treats and other restricted-access events can be good short-term solutions, but don't stop with protecting just a few kids on just one night a year! BikeWalkKC shares the view of the researchers that rather than place the responsibility of safety on individual children, making the physical streets and sidewalks safer is a more effective strategy to eliminate pedestrian deaths altogether. The only way forward is together, and reflective tape and glow sticks won't get us there. If we want safer streets on Halloween, we have to advocate for safer streets every other day of the year too.
Source: Staples JA, Yip C, Redelmeier DA. Pedestrian Fatalities Associated With Halloween in the United States. JAMA Pediatr. 2019;173(1):101–103. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2018.4052