With Halloween only a week away, many parents are putting the finishing touches on Halloween costumes, are getting ready for Halloween parties, and are planning for a big night of trick-or-treating. While many parents have a plan in place to check over candy before allowing their children to eat it, candy is not the biggest hazard to your children this Halloween. Pedestrian accidents in Hollywood and South Florida are in fact a leading cause of concern.
Children out for Halloween may be interested in candy so much that they forget basic road safety rules. In some cases, if they are unsupervised, they may run out between cars or cross the street in a zigzag pattern, putting them at risk of car accidents. Dark costumes and darkened streets can also contribute to accidents.
Here are a few tips for ensuring no one in your family is affected by a pedestrian accident this Halloween:
1) Make sure your children can see and be seen.
Have your children carry a flashlight so that they can see the road in front of them. This will help prevent trip and fall accidents in your Hollywood community and can also ensure that drivers can see your children. Encourage your children to wear light colored costumes or have reflective tape or stickers added to costumes to make children more visible. Make sure that your child’s costume allows full mobility and good visibility. Masks, long ehms, and other obstructions can make it hard to walk safely in the street safely.
2) Take children in a big group.
A big group of children is easier for drivers to spot. If you include several adults in the group, you can ensure that each child is carefully supervised during the outing.
3) Plan your trick-or-treating route carefully.
The ideal trick-or-treating route is somewhere where you’re familiar with the residents and in a residential area with fairly low car traffic and plenty of sidewalks. Look for areas that are well lit and well populated with other families. When planning your route, plan on visiting houses along one side of the street before crossing at a crosswalk and walking down the opposite side of the street. Avoid crossing streets back and forth frequently.
4) Consider staying in.
Many parents are choosing to throw Halloween parties rather than having their children to trick or treat. It’s a fun way for children to enjoy candy and fun with friends without having to worry about visiting strangers’ doors or having to worry about pedestrian accidents.
Flaxman Law Group legal staff advocates aggressively on behalf of injured families and injured children. Our full-service law firm has represented many families whose children have been injured in and we have worked to promote child safety in our community. The law offices of Flaxman Law Group would like to wish you a safe and happy Halloween. If you or anyone in your family is injured during the holiday or during any weekend or holiday, our phone lines are staffed around-the-clock.