Hard Facts About Halloween Safety:
It’s almost Halloween! We love this time of year, but it brings unique dangers as well. 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. Practice Halloween Safety and protect our kids by driving even more safely on Halloween. Popular trick-or-treating hours are 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Be especially alert for kids during those hours. Here are a few things to remember to look out for to make sure everyone has fun and stays safe:
1. Use your headlights:
- Check your headlights. This is not the night you want your headlights to quit working. The streets are going to be full of people, and you need to be able to see them!
- Trick-or-treaters are much more likely to see you if you are shining your headlights (not your high beams – you don’t want to blind anyone). This is even more important in residential areas.
- Turn your headlights on earlier in the day to spot children from greater distances.
- Turn on your headlights to make yourself more visible – even in the daylight.
2. Don’t drive distracted:
- It’s a good idea anyway to avoid distractions while driving, as distracted driving is the largest cause of motor vehicle accidents. Get rid of distractions in your car so you can concentrate on the road and your surroundings.
- Put your cell phone away.
- Don’t reach for anything unless you are safely stopped.
- Save snacks for your destination.
- Turn the radio down. We all love to jam out in the car. Halloween is a time when it’s critical for drivers to hear what’s going on around them. Turn the radio low enough to hear a car horn or someone yelling outside the car.
3. Drive More Carefully:
- Obey all traffic signs and signals. Drive at least 5 miles per hour below than the posted speed limit. We don’t mean creep along way under the speed limit. We mean to drive slowly and keep a sharp lookout for kids. Especially if you’re in a residential area.
- Children get very excited and don’t always pay attention before darting out in the road to cross the street. Drive slowly so you can respond more quickly, and yield to young pedestrians. Never assume that children can see you or that they are paying attention.
- Be alert of your surroundings. Children are small, harder to see and take longer to cross the street than adults. Many could be wearing dark-colored costumes, so be on alert when driving.
- Scan the road, especially at corners or crosswalks. Take extra time to look for kids at intersections, on medians and on curbs. Broaden your scanning by looking for children left and right into yards and front porches.
- Never pass cars stopped in the street on Halloween. They might be picking up or dropping off children. They might be stopped to allow children to cross.
- Watch for children when passing parked cars. Children often cross the street behind or between parked cars.
- Enter and exit driveways and alleys slowly and carefully. Children have a harder time judging how a driver will react. They are more likely to think they have the okay to go ahead. Be careful backing out into a street.
4. Communicate with other drivers:
- Use your hazards when pulling over to drop off or pick up children to alert drivers behind you to approach with caution.
- Use your turn signals when changing lanes or turning.
5. No Alcohol:
- Designate a sober driver or arrange a taxi if you’re celebrating with alcohol.
- Never, ever drink and drive.
- If you see a drunk or unsafe driver on the road, alert law enforcement. If possible, get the license number and report it when you call the police. Alerting law enforcement to dangerous drivers could save a life on Halloween.
6. Take your mask off:
- This may sound silly, but we’ve seen people try to drive on Halloween night with their costumes on, including masks. It may be fun to startle people by popping your masked head out of the car window. Driving this way is dangerous. If you’re driving, don’t wear anything that restricts your field of vision.
7. Watch the weather:
- We may have rain or snow on Halloween night. This will add to all the driving hazards already out there. Keep an eye on the storms, for both trick-or-treaters’ Halloween Safety and for your own!
Merdes Law Office wishes everyone a Safe and Happy Halloween.
Merdes Law Office has been helping Alaskans for more than 30 years. And while we hope you never need us… We’re here if you do.
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