Halloween Safety Concerns

According to the Centers for Disease Control, Halloween is the deadliest night of the year for pedestrians. The agency found children ages five to 14 are four times more likely to be killed while walking on Halloween night.Children face numerous dangers while trick-or-treating, including crossing the street, costume safety, and candy.Columbia police are asking children and their parents to pay attention amid all of the fun of the night.”There’s a lot of kids in neighborhoods and they’re not used to crossing the street,” said Columbia Police Department spokesperson Latisha Stroer. “They don’t cross at the crosswalk or intersection, so you see a lot of kids running.”The CDC says 84 percent of pedestrian deaths on Halloween happen while people jaywalk. Also, the report says a person is twice as likely to die from being hit by a car if it’s going 35 miles per hour rather than 25 miles per hour.Another common danger involves costumers. Parents should check to see how flammable a costume is and if it involves a mask, to see if there are proper breathing holes.”Look at their costumes and if they’re free-flowing, be weary of jack-o-lanterns and pumpkins that are lit…. so they don’t catch on fire,” said Stroer.Another common danger is the candy that children collect.”Make sure all the candy is wrapped, make sure it doesn’t appear to be tampered with, and don’t take items like apples and popcorn balls,” said Det. Tom O’Sullivan of the Boone County Sheriff’s Department.Authorities say anything that looks like it has been tampered with should be thrown away immediately.Officials also warn against kids entering a house when trick-or-treating and going to any houses that do not have lights on.