Childhood pedestrian deaths during Halloween -- United States, 1975-1996.

During 1995, pedestrian deaths accounted for approximately 15% of all motor-vehicle-related deaths sustained by children aged 0-19 years in the United States. Because of the levels of participation in Halloween-related activities by elementary and middle school-aged children, these children might be more likely to sustain pedestrian injuries on that evening than on other evenings. To characterize the occurrence of fatal pedestrian injury among children on Halloween, CDC analyzed mortality data from the Fatal Analysis Reporting System (FARS) of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) during 1975-1996. This report summarizes the results of the analysis and suggests measures to prevent Halloween-related pedestrian injuries and deaths among children. The findings indicate that the number of childhood pedestrian deaths increased fourfold among children on Halloween evenings when compared with all other evenings.