Halloween typically sees an increase in fatal car crashes, no matter what day of the week it’s on

More kids on streets, and drunken drivers coming from parties, are just a couple reasons for the increase

This year, Halloween falls on a Sunday. (Photo by Joonas kääriäinen from Pexels)

While the main features of Halloween are candy and costumes, there is something else that typically increases when the day rolls around: Fatal car crashes.

According to autoinsurance.org, between 2004 and 2019, all but five years saw an increase in fatal wrecks compared to what the annual average was for that particular day of the week.

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The only years with a decrease were in 2009, 2012, 2015 and 2019, according to the website.

Research found that 18% of the people who die in crashes on Halloween are children and that weekday Halloweens have 11% more fatal crashes than weekend Halloweens.

So, what days of the week have had the most fatal crashes when Halloween falls on those particular days? Here is the total number of Halloween fatal crashes on each day since 1995, according to the website’s research.

  • 1995 (Tuesday) 103
  • 1996 (Thursday) 123
  • 1997 (Friday) 123
  • 1998 (Saturday) 138
  • 1999 (Sunday) 131
  • 2000 (Tuesday) 108
  • 2001 (Wednesday) 99
  • 2002 (Thursday) 107
  • 2003 (Friday) 135
  • 2004 (Sunday) 143
  • 2005 (Monday) 104
  • 2006 (Tuesday) 90
  • 2007 (Wednesday) 98
  • 2008 (Friday) 136
  • 2009 (Saturday) 106
  • 2010 (Sunday) 96
  • 2011 (Monday) 84
  • 2012 (Wednesday) 80
  • 2013 (Thursday) 99
  • 2014 (Friday) 124
  • 2015 (Saturday) 108
  • 2016 (Monday) 100
  • 2017 (Tuesday) 86
  • 2018 (Wednesday) 89
  • 2019 (Thursday) 77

This year, Halloween will be on a Tuesday.

The last three times Halloween has been on a Tuesday, there has been an average of more than 94 fatal crashes, according to the website.

There are several factors of why there is usually an increase in fatal car accidents on Halloween day, ranging from more children running in streets, parents being in a hurry on the road trying to follow children, rainy weather causing slippery roads or more drunken drivers on the road coming and going from Halloween parties.

This story was first published in 2021. It has since been updated.


About the Author:

Keith is a member of Graham Media Group's Digital Content Team, which produces content for all the company's news websites.

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