There’s a scary fact about Halloween that parents need to know: The hours of 4 pm to 10 pm, when most trick-or-treaters are on the road, are especially deadly to child pedestrians. According to 1975-1996 data reported by the CDC:
Overall, among children aged 5-14 years, an average of four deaths occurred on Halloween during these hours each year, compared with an average of one death during these hours on every other day of the year.
This isn’t a call to panic; only a warning for you and your kids to be more cautious. The following are six mistakes trick-or-treaters make that may increase their risk of a traffic accident.
1) Wearing overwhelmingly dark attire. With dark costumes or clothing, trick-or-treaters reduce their visibility to drivers. They should try to wear lighter attire, and regardless of the color of their costume, they should also significantly improve their visibility by wearing reflectors and using flashlights. (White clothes, in and of themselves, aren’t a substitute for reflectors.)
2) Wearing an unwieldy costume. If their costumes are prone to making them trip, or if they have masks on that reduce their field of vision, they’re endangering themselves when using the road.
3) Not making use of pedestrian-friendly areas. Whether they’re accompanied by you or going only with friends, children should ideally be trick-or-treating in areas that have sidewalks and crosswalks and are also well-lit. Their trick-or-treating route should ideally include as few street crossings as possible.
4) Neglecting basic traffic safety. In the absence of sidewalks, trick-or-treaters may walk with traffic instead of against it as they should; and instead of sticking as far to the side of the road as possible, they might carelessly drift onto the path of oncoming traffic. They might run out onto the street without looking both ways or attempt to cross the street from an unsafe location, emerging from between trees and shrubs or parked cars.
5) Going unsupervised. Safe Kids Worldwide recommends that kids under the age of 12 be accompanied at night. But it’s also up to parents to gauge the maturity of their kids and whether they’re likely to pay sufficient attention to the road or completely put their fun with friends ahead of safety.
6) Underestimating driveway dangers. With trick-or-treaters going on and off people’s property throughout the evening, they need to be careful around driveways too. Even a car pulling onto a driveway at low speed could cause a serious accident when colliding with a pedestrian; trick-or-treaters should look both ways when cutting across a driveway or passing by the opening to one.
In the event of an accident, don’t hesitate to contact an experienced Eastern Shore accident lawyer. However, by avoiding these trick-or-treating mistakes, you’ll reduce the chances of suffering a traffic accident on Halloween – a day when all the horrors should be enjoyable and imaginary.
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