Keeping Kiddos Safe While Trick or Treating

On average, twice as many kids are killed while walking on Halloween than on any other day of the year. But a few simple precautions for kids and drivers can make the night fun and safe.

Safe Kids has joined together with FedEx® to promote pedestrian safety this Halloween. FedEx volunteers are teaming up with 159 local Safe Kids coalitions in towns and cities across the United States to provide reflective materials and safe walking information to parents and children.

"On Halloween, more children are on the street after dark than normal, and they are so excited that they may run out into the street without looking," said Kate Carr, president and CEO of Safe Kids Worldwide. "We're asking drivers to take extra care and slow down on neighborhood roads. And, of course, it's very important that drivers put down mobile devices to avoid distraction."

Parents can use glow sticks or reflective trick-or-treat bags to make sure their kids' costumes are visible to drivers while still being fun. And talk to your kids about watching out for cars. Kids should make eye contact with drivers before crossing the street and always try to use crosswalks, when possible.

Here are the top tips from Safe Kids and FedEx to keep kids safe on Halloween. 

Top safety tips for kids:

• Costumes can be both creative and safe. The most important thing is to make sure you can be seen by drivers. Decorate costumes and bags with reflective tape or stickers and, if possible, choose light colors. Masks can obstruct your vision, so choose non-toxic face paint and make-up whenever possible. Carry glow sticks or flashlights so you can see better, as well as be seen by drivers.
• Cross the street safely at corners, using traffic signals and crosswalks. Look left, right and left again when crossing and keep looking as you cross.
• Put electronic devices down and keep heads up and walk, don't run, across the street.
• Walk on sidewalks or paths. If there are no sidewalks, walk facing traffic as far to the left as possible.
• Slow down and stay alert. Watch out for cars that are turning or backing up and don't dart out into the street or cross in between parked cars.

Top safety tips for drivers:

• Slow down in residential neighborhoods. Remember that popular trick-or-treating hours are 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.
• Be especially alert and take extra time to look for kids at intersections, on medians and on curbs. Children are excited onHalloween and may move in unpredictable ways.
• Reduce any distractions inside your car, such as talking on the phone or eating, so you can concentrate on the road and your surroundings.

In 1999, Safe Kids Worldwide and program sponsor FedEx launched the Walk This Way Program in the United States to educate motorists and child pedestrians and create safer, more walkable communities. Safe Kids and FedEx address the issue through research, physical improvements to school zones, and education and awareness campaigns throughout the year.

For more tips on how to help kids become safer pedestrians on Halloween, and throughout the year, visit www.safekids.org and visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/safekidsworldwide.