RICHMOND, Va. -- AAA is warning parents to be extra cautious this Halloween, with children more than twice as likely to be hit and killed by a car on Halloween than any other day of the year.
The National Highway Safety Administration said Halloween is consistently one of the top three days of the year for pedestrian injuries and fatalities.
Martha Meade with AAA said the big thing parents can do to do to keep their children safe is to make sure they can see and be seen.
She recommended giving them glow sticks, flashlights, and/or wearing reflective vests.
Meade said Halloween is also statistically a dangerous night for drunk driving -- with drunk driving fatalities on the rise.
As a result, she said people trick-or-treating need to be aware.
"When kids are out trick-or-treating we’ve got kind of a potentially deadly combination -- distracted or drunk drivers and distract pedestrians," said Meade. "It’s just a bad combination. So Halloween’s a great and fun holiday but safety needs to be considered first."
Another danger during the Halloween season -- fires.
Capt. Robert Rowley with the Henrico Fire Department said with candles and flammable decorations, they see more of them this time of year.
"Most folks know that a candle is a bad idea, but they think that decorations or things that enclose the candle such as this are okay," said Rowley. "And they are really not because, to be honest, the outside of this can heat up and start a fire or it's possible for items to fall down inside of the decoration and start a fire."
Both Meade and Captain Rowley said it comes down to being smart.
