Halloween a Deadly Reminder of the Failures of U.S. Traffic Safety

When it comes to pedestrian safety, Halloween has never been so frightening.

1 minute read

November 1, 2021, 10:00 AM PDT

By Planetizen


Trick or Treat

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Alex Engel and Becca Freer write about the tragic risk to young pedestrians on Halloween, describing both the conditions on the holiday and the larger context of declining pedestrian safety:

A frightening statistic makes the rounds every year around this time: In the U.S., kids under 17 are three times more likely to die in traffic on Halloween than any other day of the year.

Moreover:

That figure reflects the surge of trick-or-treaters taking to streets that are not well designed for people walking, especially after dark, with predictably deadly results. But it’s also just one facet of a much larger pedestrian safety crisis that’s been developing over decades.

The writers, both of whom work in communications for NACTO, prescribe a list of "Safe System Approach" actions to reverse the trend of rising pedestrian fatalities—on Halloween and every day of the year.

Wednesday, October 27, 2021 in Bloomberg CityLab

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