Halloween Car Strikes Put Utah Kids at Risk
Children are more than twice as likely to be hit by a car on Halloween, so Utah families should supervise younger trick-or-treaters closely.
Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Toddlers
Live Poll
Do you take extra steps to check for children before backing out of your driveway?
Intermountain Children's Health experts have issued Halloween safety tips for trick-or-treaters and drivers, warning that children face elevated risks on the night. Utah families heading out for trick-or-treating are the primary audience for the guidance.
Why it matters
Halloween combines heavy pedestrian traffic, dark conditions and distracted driving, which raises the chance of a child being struck by a car and of choking on candy. The guidance targets two of the most preventable causes of serious childhood injury during the holiday.
The guidance draws on injury patterns showing children are more than twice as likely to be struck by a car on Halloween as on other days. Over the past decade, more than 60 Utah children were killed and more than 500 injured in accidental back overs and front overs, though the source does not break out Halloween-specific counts.
The players
Intermountain Children's Health
A Utah-based health system whose experts issued the Halloween child safety guidance, and which runs pediatric care through Intermountain Primary Children's Hospital.
Intermountain Primary Children's Hospital
A pediatric hospital in Utah that operates the Spot the Tot program aimed at preventing back-over and front-over injuries to young children.
The details
Candy is one of the most common causes of choking in children, and choking is often silent, meaning a child may not cry out or appear distressed. Drivers are advised to walk all the way around their car before getting in, to make sure no children are behind it. Intermountain Primary Children's Hospital's Spot the Tot program is designed to help prevent drivers from accidentally rolling over a child as they pull away from a curb or driveway.
Timeline
Over the past decade: more than 60 Utah children were killed in accidental back overs and front overs.
Halloween night: children face their elevated risk of being hit by cars while trick-or-treating.
Health Landscape
Accidental back overs and front overs have produced more than 60 child deaths and more than 500 injuries in Utah across the past decade, a pattern that prevention programs such as Spot the Tot are designed to address. Holiday-specific guidance like this extends that ongoing prevention work into a period when pedestrian traffic peaks.
If you are trick-or-treating with children under 12, plan to go along and help them use crosswalks, and equip costumes with glow sticks, flashlights or reflective tape. Drivers on Halloween should walk around their vehicle before getting in, and pay close attention to children near curbs and driveways.
The takeaway
The most reliable protection on Halloween is adult supervision for younger trick-or-treaters and a deliberate walk-around check before any driver pulls away. Keeping small candy away from young children and watching for silent choking can also help prevent a serious emergency.
Further reading
For more on keeping young children safe, explore our Toddlers coverage.
More information
Find child safety information from Intermountain Health.
Source note: This article includes information reported by KUTV.
Live Poll
Do you take extra steps to check for children before backing out of your driveway?
