EDUCATION + SCHOOLS
Crash survivors urge Halloween safety
Oct 25, 2017, 11:09 AM
A family who was hit while trick-or-treating 2 years ago, came back to the spot in Salt Lake City on Thursday to share a safety message for others.
Amy Davis was behind the main group of trick or treaters on 2100 South, when she heard screeching tires and the impact of a crash.
“My sister-in-law went up, and started screaming, ‘It’s them, it’s them!’” recalled Davis, with tears in her eyes.
Davis’s brother-in-law Keith Simmon was severely injured. His two children and Davis’s daughter were in a little red wagon he was pulling. The crash sent them flying into the street, and knocked one of them unconscious.
Authorities say it was a driver headed home, turning from 2100 South onto 400 East. He was not drunk or impaired, he simply was not looking for anyone in the road as he made his normal turn to go home.
The kids and Simmon spent days in the hospital. The children all seem to have recovered, and they have no memory of the accident, but Simmon had a long road of recuperation.
UDOT used the opportunity to show various lights and glow sticks and flashlights and reflective clothing that people can wear as they trick-or-treat to be more visible. And they say drivers have to be more careful because it does get dark earlier now, and more kids will be out on Halloween night.
Davis says the thing she wants people to remember not just on Halloween night, but any night, is that this can happen to anyone.
“We didn’t do anything dangerous, our kids weren’t running out into the street, we were home early, we were traveling in a group, and it still happened,” she said.
“People need to be aware that it can happen to them,” she said.
