What You Can Do to Keep Your Kids Safe While Trick-or-Treating

Every Halloween, kids look forward to putting on their costume and going door-to-door with the goal of filling their buckets full of sweet and sugary treats. For parents, the goal is the same as it always is - to keep their little goblins and ghouls safe while helping them have a fun and memorable experience. Holly Alway, MTSA, an injury prevention coordinator for Trinity Health, shares some important tips to ensure everyone has a safe and enjoyable time trick-or-treating.

Q: What should parents consider when it comes to the costume?

A: When you’re selecting the costume, we want to think about things that can be easily seen by drivers when you’re out on Halloween night. So that means thinking about light colors, and if you can’t do light colors, we want to think about adding reflective items to the costume itself. You can get reflective tape, reflective bracelets, zipper pulls, etc. Anything that will reflect off vehicle headlights and make your child more visible to drivers.

Q: What should parents be telling their kids to safely navigate their trick-or-treating route?

A: Well, we always want to have a conversation with our kids about expectations, and that really needs to happen before the costume goes on. Once that costume is on, their excitement level goes up and they aren’t paying attention as closely. Some rules to consider establishing with your kids include:

• No running. Walking will give drivers more time to see you and reduce the risk of serious falls and accidents.
• Only cross streets at corners or crosswalks. If there are no sidewalks, walk facing traffic as far to the left as possible. Children should walk on direct routes with the fewest street crossings.
• Make eye contact with drivers before crossing in front of them.
• Watch for cars that are turning or backing up. Never dart out into the street or cross between parked cars.
• Children under the age of 12 should not be alone without adult supervision. If the child is mature enough to be without supervision, remind them to stick to familiar areas that are well lit and trick-or-treat in groups.

Q: How about the grown-ups? What are some tips for the family unit to stay safe while trick-or-treating?

A: One of the biggest things is just putting down those distractions. So put the phone down, no headphones, no ear buds, and really be aware of your surroundings and supervise the children.

Q: What is the message to drivers who will be out on the road during those popular trick-or-treating times?

A: Those popular trick-or-treating hours tend to be 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., so be especially alert for kids during those times. On average, children are more than twice as likely to be hit by a car and killed on Halloween than any other day of the year. The biggest thing drivers can do is slow down and be on alert, especially in those residential neighborhoods. Take extra time to look for kids at intersections and eliminate any distractions inside your car so you can concentrate on the road and your surroundings. Finally, anticipate the heavy foot traffic and turn your headlights on earlier in the day to spot kids from greater distances.

To learn more about Safe Kids West Michigan, visit TrinityHealthMI.org/SafeKids.