San Diego

Kids Are Twice as Likely to Be Hit by Car on Halloween: Report

According to the new report, deadly crashes involving teens walking have increased 13 percent in the last two years across the nation.

A jump in the number of crashes involving teens in the U.S. has researchers taking a closer look at distracted driving and walking.

A newly released report from Safe Kids Worldwide, a non-profit safety group, finds that distracted walking and distracted driving are the two biggest threats for students walking to school. 

Parents like Dorothy Grootonk say the numbers are concerning, especially on a day when kids will be filling up streets trick-or-treating for Halloween.

"It is a bit of a concern having the drivers, especially in our neighborhoods, they're a little crazy sometimes," said Grootonk. 

According to the new report, deadly crashes involving teens walking have increased 13 percent in the last two years across the nation.

For the study, researchers observed a group of nearly 40-thousand walkers going to and from school.

Researchers saying there is an increased chance of drivers hitting walkers, but drivers aren't the only ones at fault.

"What we saw was pretty alarming about the kids," Kate Carr, with Safe Kids worldwide, said. "They were not paying attention to just the rules of the road, but more importantly they were distracted. Whether they had headphones on, whether they were texting, talking sometimes doing all three. Of course coupled with distracted drivers."

According to Safe Kids Worldwide, nearly 90 percent of teens own cell phones, compared to just 44 percent in 2004. 

Carr says it's leading to some serious consequences across the country.

The report also found that nearly half of distracted teens walking to and from school were most likely to be wearing headphones. A third of those distracted were on their phones texting.

"I kind of worry that it might be a problem for the kids wearing darker costumes," Grootonk said. "I just hope that they put it away for a little while you know, pay attention to what's going on."

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