Keep Kids Safe On Halloween and Avoid Scary Dangers

Children and parents gear up for Halloween by choosing the perfect costume, Halloween make-up and accessories. The excitement builds as trick-or-treat night and Halloween party-time approaches. There is just one thing often missing from the plans:  the plan for making sure that kids stay safe during the festivities.

Know safety tips and be aware of the potential dangers to avoid becoming a Halloween accident or crime statistic.

Keep the Kids Safe
Make sure your kids understand the importance of following all safety rules on Halloween. Abide by those same safety tips yourself when taking your kids trick-or-treating.

• Purchase only flame-resistant costumes.
• The American Academy of Pediatrics advises parents to make sure wigs and other accessories are flame resistant.
• Have children only wear masks that they can see out of to avoid falls or other injuries sometimes experienced when wearing a mask.
• Plan the Halloween route and insist that your children, no matter their age, stick to it.
• The S. Food & Drug Administration advises that parents instruct children not to accept or eat any Halloween candy or treat not commercially wrapped. Throw away suspicious-looking treats.
• Walk only on sidewalks and cross streets only at intersections.
• Bring along a flashlight or glow stick to light the way and wear reflective strips on costumes.
• Avoid petting animals on the Halloween route.
• Stay in groups and never, ever allow children to trick-or-treat alone.

Halloween Dangers Do Exist
Halloween dangers are not just myths reserved for spooky stories or scary Halloween movies. Crime rates do increase on Halloween. The Huffington Post reports that on Halloween between 2006 and 2009 the crime rate in and around Boston increased by 50 percent compared to any other date throughout the year. Crimes using weapons also increased by 50 percent.

Attorney John Leighton reminds everyone of the importance of data reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicating that nearly 60 percent of Halloween fatalities on highways occur because of impaired drivers. Kids are twice as likely to be killed by a car on Halloween night. Halloween has become a major drinking and alcohol-infused holiday.  Don’t let a drunk driver change your family’s life forever.

John Leighton, Esq., is a board-certified personal injury trial lawyer and managing partner of Leighton Panoff Law, with offices in Miami and Orlando. He represents seriously injured victims of negligence, sexual abuse, medical malpractice, violent crime, defective products and resort, travel, and vacation accidents. His lifelong passion is helping people who have had the worst thing happen in their lives.