5 Important Trick or Treat Safety Tips to Protect Your Kids on Halloween
Halloween is just a few days away, and your kids are probably gearing up to put on their costume and take to the streets to collect those delicious treats. But before you head out, it’s important to make sure you go over the most essential Halloween safety tips.
Trick or treating is a tradition that every kid looks forward to, so all parents want to make sure they have as much fun as possible. But trick or treating can also pose some safety hazards.
Practicing all safety precautions is important to avoid any personal injuries that could happen during this exciting time.
Make sure you read over these essential trick or treating safety tips to make sure you’re covering all your bases. Kids just want to have fun, and the best way to make sure yours have the most fun they can is by keeping them safe.
1. Plan Your Route Ahead of Time
When it’s dark outside, streets can appear different and less familiar. This is especially true for younger children.
If you don’t plan out a route, your child could get lost or their legs could get sore. When you’re just following a random path and suddenly your child wants to stop, you could get stuck farther from your house than you planned.
Avoid going back and forth across the street. Instead, work up one side of the street and then back down the other side. Crossing many times increases the risk of car accidents.
This might come obvious to you, but stay on the sidewalks wherever you can. Some side streets don’t have them, but staying as far away from the street as possible will reduce your risk of injury.
2. Avoid Masks
Masks are dangerous and should be avoided at all costs, no matter how much your children beg for them.
When children wear masks, especially at night, it becomes much harder to see their surroundings. This makes it easy for them to trip over items on the road or on peoples’ lawns.
It also makes them vulnerable to being hit by oncoming cars because they can’t see them in their peripherals. Car accidents are actually the biggest risk of personal injury, and even death, on Halloween night.
In fact, children are twice as likely to be hit by a car while trick or treating on Halloween than they are at any other time of the year.
Masks can also limit your child’s ability to breathe. It’s not worth the risk, despite how awesome your child wants to look.
3. Help Them Choose a Comfortable Costume
Kids tend to pick out Halloween costumes that are popular and eye-catching. While these are fun, they aren’t always the practical choice for comfort.
If they insist on the impractical costume, at least make sure that they’re wearing comfortable shoes.
However, if you are giving your child a longer costume to keep them warm, check the length. The costume shouldn’t be long enough that they might trip over it.
Check the material of the costume. If it’s flammable, you might want to get them to pick out something else. You never know when they’re going to drag their costume near a jack-o-lantern with an open flame.
You should also consider the weapons that go with your child’s costume. We know that sometimes certain costumes just need those accessories. Who wants to be a pirate without a pirate sword? No one.
But you should make sure that the weapon of choice is made of rubber or soft material and won’t pose as big of an injury risk. Children could hurt themselves or their friends, and if they hurt their friends seriously enough, you are liable.
How to drive carefully in the dark.
4. Make Sure Your Child is in a Group
Younger children are usually accompanied by their parents. But when your child reaches a certain age, they don’t want their parents coming with them from house to house.
If your child is old enough to go out on their own, make sure they’re in a group of at least 3 people. Generally, age 10 is the acceptable cut off point for parental accompaniment.
Everyone in the group should be accounted for and aware of the route that they have planned out. You should be aware of every person who is in the group.
Make sure they have a flashlight with them. It also doesn’t hurt to give them a cell phone to use if they don’t have their own.
5. Practice Halloween Candy Safety
We’ve all heard the horror stories about children getting dangerous objects or poisonous items in their bag of candy. While you might think that many of these stories are just urban legends, you can never be too cautious when it comes to your child’s life.
You should instruct your child not to touch any of their candy until they get home. Usually, children are too busy collecting as much candy as they can to take a break anyway. You can avoid them succumbing to temptation by making sure they’re full when they leave the house.
When you get home, go through your child’s bag of candy and toss anything that’s not in a wrapper or appears to have been opened. Some warning signs for tampered candy include small pin holes, discolouration, tears in the packaging, or anything that seems unusual.
Accidents Happen. Conte & Associates Can Change the Outcome
Conte & Associates are experienced personal injury lawyers in Whitby, Oshawa, and Vaughan who can fight for the compensation you deserve. Accidents can be devastating, so we’re here to ease your pain in any way we can.
If your child is hurt trick or treating, we can help you get what you need to hold the right parties liable. You want the best for your children, so make sure they have a bright future.
Contact our offices today for a free consultation. The rest of your life is waiting.