Halloween Trick-or-Treating Safety Tips - WSFA.com: News Weather and Sports for Montgomery, AL.

Halloween trick-or-treating can be so much fun. Make it's a safe, happy evening by following these valuable safety tips:

• If you're home this Halloween, make sure your house is well lit.
• Clear walkways of any type of decorations that can cause a child to fall.
• Avoid scaring or startling trick or treaters. Small children may frighten easily.
• Buy candy that's sealed or individually wrapped.
• When driving on Halloween night, slow down in residential areas. Be sure to carefully look both ways for children darting into the street.
• Pets get frightened on Halloween. Put them up to protect them from cars or inadvertently bitting a trick-or-treater.
• Battery powered jack o'lantern candles are preferable to a real flame. If you do use candles, place the pumpkin well away from where trick-or-treaters will be walking or standing. Make sure paper or cloth yard decorations won't be blown into a flaming candle.
  

Reminders for your trick-or-treater:

• Make sure to walk on sidewalks and not in the street. If there is no sidewalk, walk on the left side of the street, facing traffic.
• Always watch for cars. Use designated crosswalks and intersections.
• Remember to stay with a group.
• To avoid accidents, don't run out between parked cars.
• Carry a flashlight.
• Walk, don't run.
• Obey traffic signals.
• Stay in familiar neighborhoods.
• Don't cut across yards or driveways.
• Wear a watch you can read in the dark.
• Stay away from and don't pet animals you don't know.
• Carry only flexible knives, swords or other props.  

Falls are the leading cause of accidents on Halloween:

• Be sure your child's costume is short enough to avoid tripping or falling.
• The costume should be loose enough so that your child can move around freely.
• Use materials that are fire retardant and made of light colors and reflective tape.
• Masks should have proper mouth and nose openings. Eye holes should be large enough for good visibility. When possible, use face paint.
• Shoes should fit (even if they don't go with your costume).
• Parents, make your child eats dinner before setting out. Give your child quarters to call home.

Once your child is home:

• Although tampering is rare, tell children to bring the candy home to be inspected before consuming anything. Look at the wrapping carefully and toss out anything that looks suspect.