For Halloween, parents and motorists are being reminded to make safety a top priority.
AAA Mid-Atlantic urges everyone out driving or trick-or-treating on Halloween to be aware of the dangers out there.
Children are more than twice as likely to be hit by a car and killed on Halloween than any other day of the year, and it’s one of the top three days of the year for pedestrian injuries and fatalities.
Drivers are advised to get rid of distractions, put the phones away as well as have your lights on even in the daylight to be seen.
AAA Mid-Atlantic’s Jana Tidwell provides some other tips for drivers.
"Continuously scan the road for trick-or-treaters. They're excited. They may not be paying attention to where they're crossing, even though they should be crossing at a corner, at a stop sign, at a crosswalk, they could be darting out in between cars. Slow down. Go slower than you typically would in the neighborhood, again so that you can react if a trick-or-treater happens to enter into the road at a point where they should not be doing so," said Tidwell.
Parents should make children travel in familiar areas along established routes, have an adult or older child supervise children under 12, and review safety precautions and traffic safety rules.
Tidwell reminds parents to make sure kids are bright at night.
"Illuminate your kids Halloween costumes, whether that is with a flashlight in your treat bag, reflective tape winding the Halloween costume so that headlights from cars reflect off of those. Glow sticks, glow bracelets," said Tidwell.
Tidwell notes if you’re with your children, you can use the flashlight function on your cell phone to brighten up the area you’re walking, but do not flash the light directly at drivers.
Trick-or-treaters are reminded to cross streets at the corner, stay on sidewalks and avoid walking on streets if possible, and if there are no sidewalks walk on the left side of the road facing traffic.
