At least 15 people were killed and nine others were injured in accidents and a fire connected to the festivities in the past few days, in states from California to New York, and Washington to Maine.
Halloween is one of the deadliest nights of the year because there are more drunken drivers and pedestrians on the road, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In 2012, 48 percent of fatal crashes on Halloween involved drunken drivers, compared with 31 percent on an average day that year, the agency said.
It is especially dangerous for pedestrians, who account for about one of every four people killed in crashes each year on Oct. 31, double the average for an ordinary day, according to the agency.
