Statistics feed the legend of the most terrifying night of the year Some neighborhoods begin to prohibit the passage of vehicles on that date Traffic accidents due to alcohol and a greater number of children on the streets are the cause Halloween night is the most anticipated of the year for millions of American children who parade around homes in costume, trick-or-treating. Although the reward is usually a generous handful of sweets, October 31 is accompanied by a 22% higher than usual fatal accidents when the celebration falls on Friday (the most dangerous day), followed by Tuesday, Sunday and Thursday in the ranking of the worst days. Despite the horror movies that have recreated the worst nightmares during this date, this time neither Fredy Krueger nor Chuky have anything to do with the macabre results of the statistics. The causes of these lie in car accidents caused by excessive alcohol consumption by their drivers, the high number of child pedestrians on that date and the darkness in much of the country after 6 in the afternoon. Children aged 4 to 8 were about 10 times more likely to be killed by a vehicle on Halloween than on other fall nights, per 2019 JAMA Pediatrics review of 42 yrs crash reports.https://t.co/YjPyi2skRs— tomfitzgerald (@tomfitzgerald ) October 27, 2022 The fact that many costumes are black, or dark in color, also does not help in preventing children between the ages of 4 and 8 from being 10 times more likely to be killed by a car on Halloween than on any other day. another autumn night This is revealed by a JAMA Pediatrics study from 2018, before the pandemic interrupted the celebrations and reports about it, published by the Washington Post. During the 15 years between 2004 and 2018, which were scrutinized in the study, no other day was found to be more deadly for children than Halloween, which has led to calls for cars to stop driving. circulate on that date. Something complicated if you take into account that the time when the kids go out for their sweets coincides with the rush hour when they return from work. However, some localities have decided to limit traffic in those neighborhoods where the tradition of the decoration of the houses and there is a greater number of children in the streets, in order to ensure the absence of incidents. This is the case of Seattle, in the state of Washington, which under the name of Tricks or Streets (tricks or streets), allows the closure of certain routes on that date. Another older study, also from Jama Pediatrics, revealed 608 deaths of pedestrians throughout four decades of celebrations of said festival. Its author, John Staples of the University of British Columbia, used data from the National Traffic Safety Administration on US highways to obtain information on fatal accidents on other dates. The results again showed a 43% higher probability of pedestrians being run over on that day than the rest of the year. Something that also corroborates the registry of the Death Analysis Reporting System (FARS), published by the Bestplaces website, which between 1990 and 2010 already warned of the risk of this celebration, confirming it as the deadliest day of the year for children, for on top of other holidays such as the 4th of July or New Year’s. A curse that seems to be taken from one of the numerous horror movies dated on that night and that on this occasion traces the sad results to several years ago. These, which are very similar to the current ones, reveal that 60% of the accidents took place in a four-hour period, between 5 in the afternoon and 9 at night. Some solutions, apart from reducing traffic and speed of cars in areas with an influx of children that day, they go through making children aware of the danger and warning them of the convenience of carrying flashlights or reflective clothing that, although they can ruin the costume, can help avoid fatal accidents .