Chicago Halloween Pedestrian Crashes Run 62% Above Normal, Study of City Crash Data Finds

Pedestrian crashes spike in Chicago on Halloween, and the increase starts well before dark. A study released October 28 by the Chicago firm Taxman, Pollock & Bekkerman, conducted with 1Point21 Interactive, analyzed five years of City of Chicago Traffic Crashes data (2021 through 2025) and found pedestrian-involved crashes rose an average of 62.2% during the Halloween window — midnight on October 31 through 4 a.m. on November 1 — compared with the same weekday in each year. Crashes of all types rose an average of 17.6%.

The most recent year was the steepest. In 2025, Chicago recorded 21 pedestrian crashes during the Halloween window, against a same-weekday average of 10.1 — a 107.6% increase, according to the study. Pedestrian-involved injury crashes averaged 12.4 during the window, compared with 7.9 on comparable weekdays.

Children figure heavily in the numbers. Pedestrians under 18 made up 22.6% of those involved in Halloween crashes, compared with 14.4% during comparable periods, and children ages 3 to 9 accounted for 6.5% of pedestrians in Halloween crashes — more than double their 2.9% share on corresponding weekdays, the study found. The largest hourly increases came at 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., when Halloween crash averages ran 19.4% and 23.6% higher than comparable weekday averages.

"Halloween draws families, children and partygoers onto Chicago streets well into the evening," a researcher with 1Point21 Interactive said in the release. "What stands out most is that the youngest pedestrians made up a larger share of those involved in crashes. The afternoon spike also suggests the risk starts well before dark." The study urges adults to accompany young children, pedestrians to wear reflective materials and cross at designated crosswalks, and drivers to obey speed limits, put away phones and never drive impaired. The station's live feed put Chicago at 55 degrees and mostly dry for trick-or-treat hours tonight.