This content is sponsored by Blueline Security Services
Here are Your Top 6 Halloween Safety Tips
Keep Costumes Both Creative and Safe
- Choose a light colored costume so your trick or treater can be easily seen at night.
- Decorate costumes and bags with reflective tape or stickers and, if possible, choose light colors.
- When selecting a costume, make sure it is the right size to prevent trips and falls.
Trick or Treat With an Adult
- Accompany young children. Make sure they know how to call 911 in case they get lost. Make sure they know their home phone number
- Children under the age of 12 should not be alone at night without adult supervision. If kids are mature enough to be out without supervision, they should stick to familiar areas that are well lit and trick-or-treat in groups.
Walk Safely
- Hold a flashlight while trick-or-treating to help you see and others see you. WALK and don’t run from house to house.
- Have kids carry glow sticks or flashlights to help them see and be seen by drivers.
- Choose face paint and makeup whenever possible instead of masks, which can obstruct a child’s vision.
Look both ways before crossing the street. Use crosswalks wherever possible.
- Cross the street 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.
- Teach children to make eye contact with drivers before crossing in front of them.
- Always walk on sidewalks or paths. 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.
- Watch for cars that are turning or backing up. Teach children to never dart out into the street or cross between parked cars.
Eat only factory-wrapped treats. Avoid eating homemade treats made by strangers.
- Tell children not to accept – and especially not to eat – anything that isn’t commercially wrapped. Inspect commercially wrapped treats for signs of tampering, such as an unusual appearance or discoloration, tiny pinholes, or tears in wrappers. Throw away anything that looks suspicious.
- If your child has a food allergy, check the label to ensure the allergen isn’t present. Do not allow the child to eat any home-baked goods he or she may have received.
Drive Extra Safely on Halloween
- Slow down and be especially alert in residential neighborhoods. Children are excited on Halloween and may move in unpredictable ways.
- Take extra time to look for kids at intersections, on medians and on curbs.
- Enter and exit driveways and alleys slowly and carefully.
- Eliminate any distractions inside your car so you can concentrate on the road and your surroundings.
- Drive slowly, anticipate heavy pedestrian traffic and turn your headlights on earlier in the day to spot children from greater distances.
- Popular trick-or-treating hours are 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. so be especially alert for kids during those hours.
Blueline Security Services cares about the safety of our community. To learn more, visit bluelinesecurity.com.
