Halloween Safety: How to Avoid Personal Injury During Trick-or-Treat
Oh Halloween – the one day of the year when little kids (and even not-so-little-kids) can walk around in their best Elsa and Anna or minion get ups and eat unthinkable amounts of sugary delights after a few short hours of trick-or-treating.
The personal injury attorneys here at Pribanic & Pribanic wanted to take a minute to go over some simple safety tips to ensure that Elsa, Anna, and any minions in your life have a fun – and most importantly, safe, Halloween 2015.
It’s especially important, we think, to share some info to potentially help make Halloween a bit less harrowing given that a recent survey revealed that only 35 percent of parents talk to their kids about these issues prior to trick-or-treat.
To make that parent-child conversation simple, we will take a cue from the fine folks at the Centers for Disease Control and offer an acronym for a safe Halloween holiday this year:
S – Swords and other costume weaponry should be short, soft and flexible to avoid injury
A – Avoid going out candy-mongering on your own. Such is the case in so many other situations: There is safety in numbers
F – Fasten on some reflective tape – or try to wear bright colors – to ensure that motorists can see you as they maneuver through streets crowded with costumed kids. That can help cut down on automobile accidents and/or personal injury.
E – Examine those treats! That means checking for tampered packaging and items that could possibly turn into choking hazards.
H – Have a flashlight with you for trick-or-treating. Curbs and sidewalks can be uneven, a porch step could be loose. Add a clunky costume, and a flashlight might be the thing that prevent a trip and or fall or other personal injury.
A – Always test your costume makeup beforehand – and try it on a small area. Just like when you use a new hair dye or other product, the manufacturer recommends trying it out on a small test area before slathering it on. This kind of test will ensure that the makeup won’t irritate your skin or your eyes.
L – Look both ways before you cross the street. That’s first-day stuff, but it’s important to remember.
L – Let those peepers be their natural color! Decline to wear decorative, colored contact lenses, which could increase your risk of suffering eye damage or an eye injury.
O – Only walk on the sidewalk. If there is not sidewalk, stay to the edge of the road if possible to cut down on risk of personal injury by automobile.
W – Wear well-fitted masks, costumes, shoes and capes to ensure cut down on the trips and falls that are inherent to tick-or-treating and also personal injury.
E – Eat only the stuff in manufacturer-produced wrapping – not the candy or treats or the home-made variety.
E – Enter the homes of those on the trick-or-treat route only if you flanked by a trusted adult. Just some other quick tips along those lines: Don’t approach houses that are not well-lit. And it should go without saying: Nobody should accept a ride from a stranger, on Halloween or any other night of the year.
N – Never walk near candles or other sources of fire, for obvious reasons.
This all said, the personal injury attorneys at Pribanic & Pribanic understand that accidents can and do happen, no matter how careful or prepared a person is.
If there is any questions about whether you could have a potential legal claim from a Halloween-related personal injury, you should call an experienced personal injury attorney who understands negligence, product liability and personal injury suits.
Call the Pittsburgh personal injury attorneys at Pribanic & Pribanic today at 412-672-5444 or toll-free at 800-392-4529 to schedule a free initial consultation.
