What to Fear This Halloween

Halloween is the deadliest day of the year for young pedestrians, with twice as many deaths as on a typical day.  According to State Farm:  Most at risk are kids 12-18 who often roam the streets without parents and with distractions such as friends and cell phones.

Another hazard:  drunken drivers. The share of fatal crashes involving drunken drivers rises from 30% to nearly 50% on Halloween.  About 20% of pedestrian deaths on Halloween involve a drunken driver.

Next up, Dental Disorders.  Not because of all the sugar in all that Halloween candy.  It's the sticky stuff, Milk Duds, caramels and Tootsie Rolls, capable of pulling out crowns and fillings and damaging braces and other dental work.

Pumpkin Carvers, beware!  About 4,400 people in the USA visited emergency rooms in 2013 for Halloween related injuries.  The most common accidents (56%) were pumpkin carving injuries.

How about one more, falls!  Often from tripping over costumes or putting up decorations are the next most common cause of injury.