Halloween is filled with children in costumes walking and running down the sidewalks. While it’s lots of fun for them, it can also be extremely dangerous. All of those cute kids in even cuter costumes are just a few small steps from the road filled with passing cars. Teaching your child about road safety should be a priority all of the time, but especially on Halloween. Here are a few tips for you and your child before heading out to get all the candy you can dream of!

Practice Road Safety in The Car

If you’re going to be driving anywhere on Halloween, be very diligent with your driving. You need to pay close attention to the road and surrounding areas to keep a look out for kids. Many children will be in dark costumes that are hard to see as it gets darker into the evening,  so drive slowly and keep your eyes peeled.

Teach Your Child Sidewalk Safety

As your child gets excited to walk up to each house, they may want to start running and not paying attention, but you have to remind them to calm down and take their time. Teach them how to cross the street properly by stopping and looking both ways. Encourage them to use crosswalks whenever possible and avoid houses without a sidewalk nearby. You should be supervising your child the entire night, but it only takes a split second for them to go into the road when they shouldn’t.

You should have these discussions about sidewalk and road safety with your child before the trick or treating begins to make sure they’re focused on what you’re telling them. Children are never too young to learn how to take care of themselves and be safe and this is a perfect learning opportunity.

Make Your Child Visible

We already mentioned that there will likely be children wearing dark costumes that make them hard for cars to see, so make sure your child isn’t in that group. Adding reflective tape to your child’s costume is a quick and easy way to make sure cars can see them as they cross the street and walk on the sidewalk. Avoid using masks in your child’s costume that may obstruct their vision when they look before crossing the street or walking over a curb. If there’s a hat or head piece with your child’s costume, you can even attach a small light to it so their path is always lit.

Have a safe and spooky night!