With Halloween coming up, it is important to both stay safe and have fun. Trick or treaters and motorists alike have to take extra precaution to ensure a safe October 31.
When talking about Halloween safety, the point of emphasis lies on busy streets. According to the National Safety Council, children are twice as likely to be hit and killed by a car on Halloween than any other day of the year. To prevent accidents, groups should stick to well lit areas as well as refrain from wearing masks that obstruct vision. This will ensure you have a clear view of the road before crossing after dark.
For all drivers, in neighborhoods, visibly populated or not, make sure to keep eyes on the road and keep distractions distant. Young drivers specifically, must be extra careful on the road.when a pedestrian runs in the road, drivers need to be prepared to stop at any given time in order to prevent a potentially fatal collision.
“To keep kids safe I will just stay off the streets,” says South teacher and coach Max Price.
It is common for kids to stray from their group of trick or treaters. When this happens, the kids are more likely to run into streets as well as get lost. To prevent this, Kids under age 12 should be accompanied by at least one adult supervisor. The supervisor(s) can keep a watchful eye over the group, making sure no one strays. Another way to stay safe but give the kids more freedom is to make “checkpoints”, by doing this you can meet the group at a specific spot at a specific time, checking up with parents and making -sure no one was hurt.
If trick or treating when dark, make sure to wear some type of bright, reflective clothing or carry some sort of light. This will give visibility to pedestrians so they don’t wander into the road accidentally, as well as visibility to drivers.
“It’s a lot easier to see kids darting in the road when you can actually see them,” says student driver Elijah Enomoto-Haole. In addition, drivers should make sure to have their headlights on and to be actively scanning the area.
Halloween is meant to be a fun, sugar filled night especially to kids. In order to keep everyone safe, trick or treaters should stick to well lit areas, wear bright or reflective clothing, and don’t wear anything to obstruct vision. Drivers must keep distractions distant and take it slow on the streets.
