POWAY, CA — Poway ranks No. 10 in California in a new Halloween Safety Index released by Maison Law, which analyzed traffic crash and crime data to identify cities with safer conditions during the Halloween season.
The study examined 336 California cities using crash records from the California Highway Patrol, crime statistics from the California Department of Justice and population estimates from the California Department of Finance.
Researchers used UC Berkeley's Transportation Injury Mapping System to analyze traffic crash data. The study adjusted the findings for population and evaluated five factors equally.
Those factors included seasonal fatal and injury crashes, alcohol-involved crashes, pedestrian-involved crashes, annual crash trends and violent and property crime reported in October.
Cities received scores based on the findings, with higher scores indicating safer conditions.
Poway ranked 10th statewide and was the highest-ranked city in San Diego County, according to the analysis. Santee also placed among California's top 25 cities.
Canyon Lake, Clayton and Rancho Santa Margarita earned the highest rankings in the study.
Maison Law cautioned that the rankings reflect broader seasonal traffic and crime patterns rather than an individual's specific risk on Halloween night.
The firm also noted that some 2025 records remain provisional and that cities with incomplete data were excluded from the analysis.
The full rankings and methodology are available in Maison Law's report.
Write to Doc Louallen at Doc.Louallen@Patch.com if you have a story in San Diego or Orange counties.
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