Halloween is one of the most dangerous days of the year for pedestrians according to Safe Kids Worldwide. But the Safe Kids Delaware Coalition reminds parents they can take precautions to keep their children safe while trick-or-treating:
Statistics show children are twice as likely to be hit by a car and killed on Halloween than on any other day of the year.
In Delaware, 23 pedestrians of all ages have died through October 14th this year; that’s up more than 40% over the same time frame last year according to Delaware’s Office of Highway Safety (OHS).
The Safe Kids Delaware Coalition board member Kim O’Malley says one reason Halloween can be deadly for trick-or-treaters is dark-colored costumes, “And the amount of foot traffic, as well as car traffic that is out in the neighborhoods in such a short period of time.”
And O’Malley offers some advice to keep kids safe Thursday night, “A good thing to try to do with the costumes - I know that we all like to have the scariest costumes out there and usually those costumes are the darkest ones. But something that you can add to your costumes, a flashlight should always be an important part of every single costume; that way you can be seen when you’re out as it gets darker.”
O’Malley says there are some things parents should keep in mind, including adding reflective tape to your child’s costume, “That you can kind of just add on to the costumes, that won’t take away from the scariness too much, but will also help you be more visible to the driver’s who are out within the neighborhoods.”
O’Malley says young trick-or-treaters should also be supervised by a parent or guardian and makeup is always better than masks, allowing children to see better.
O’Malley adds parents should discard ALL candy and other items that are unsealed, have holes in the packages, are spoiled or are homemade treats not made by someone you know.
And to prevent choking, she says, do not allow young children to have hard candy or gum.
O’Malley says drivers should also be mindful that children may be crossing area roads in large numbers - so slow down.
