Halloween safety tips for drivers, trick-or-treaters

Published 1:30 am Monday, October 31, 2016

Sugar rush and rush hour meet tonight.

Parents are urged to help their children think about cars as well as candy as they go trick-or-treating at the same time many of their neighbors are returning home from work. Drivers, too, should take extra precautions tonight.

Some chilling statistics are incentive to keep the scares where they should be this Halloween night.

On average, children are more than twice as likely to be hit by a car and killed on Halloween than on any other day of the year, according to Safe Kids.

Halloween is a particularly deadly night due to drunken drivers, according to data kept by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

In the last five years, the number of fatal crashes on Halloween night and into the early morning hours has grown. At the same time, more of those crashes have been caused by drunken drivers. The victims include pedestrians and youth under age 21.

One familiar mantra for trick-or-treaters? “Be Safe, Be Seen.” Wear reflective tape, use glow sticks or carry a flashlight. And be wary of masks that can make it difficult to see.

Other safety tips for walkers from local safety groups:

– Only trick-or-treat in familiar, well-lit areas

– Cross at corners, using traffic signals and crosswalks

– Look left, right, and left again

– Use sidewalks

– Watch for cars turning or backing up

– Children age 10 and younger should walk with an adult

– Group up if possible

For drivers, it’s a familiar refrain we still often ignore: “Slow Down, Stay Alert.”

Research by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has found that a pedestrian is more than twice as likely to be killed if they are hit by a car traveling at 35 mph compared to 25 mph.

Other safety tips for drivers:

– Put the phone away and avoid other distractions

– Watch for children crossing mid-block, including between cars or from driveways

– Don’t assume a child sees you, especially if they’re wearing a mask or hood

– Know that children can move unpredictably, especially when excited

– Drive sober, and make sure others at parties that involve alcohol or marijuana have a sober driver

Have a question? Email us at streetsmarts@heraldnet.com. Please include your first and last name and city of residence. Look for updates on the Street Smarts blog.