Houston Halloween Safety Tips
Halloween offers children as well as adults a night of magic, excitement, and fun but there are some important safety precautions you should consider to be sure that your night is full of more treats than tricks.
TRICK-or-TREAT SAFETY TIPS
- Never allow children to go Trick-or-Treating alone. Ensure that older children are Trick-or-Treating with a group of friends. Adults should always accompany younger children.
- Accompany children to the door of every house you visit.
- Children should never enter a home without parental permission.
- Never let children approach a vehicle, occupied or not.
- Walk on sidewalks and cross streets at corners. Always look both ways before crossing the street.
- Make sure that your children carry glow sticks, flash lights, or wear reflective clothing when Trick-or-Treating in the dark.
- Children should be warned never to approach a house that is not well lit and does not have a porch or outside light on.
- Children should never cut through fields or alleys without an adult companion.
- Parents should inspect all treats, and dispose of any that appear to have been opened, tampered with, or not wrapped.
- Only Trick-or-Treat in familiar and safe neighborhoods.
DRIVING SAFETY TIPS
- 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.
HOME SAFETY TIPS
- Be sure to turn on your exterior lights if you are offering candy to trick-or-treaters
- Use Christmas lights or led lanterns to illuminate pathways
- Remove items and debris from pathways or yard that could cause children to trip and fall
- Use battery-powered flickering candle lights in pumpkins rather than actual flame-burning candles
- Test your smoke alarms
- For the safety of your pets and your guests, keep dogs and cats inside if at all possible. Even the most friendly of pets might get excited and jump on or startle little kids.
- Report any suspicious of criminal activity to police
Be sure to report any suspicious activity observed during Halloween to authorities. You can call in anonymously to Crime Stoppers at (713) 222-TIPS (8477).
