The Paramus Police Department would like to offer some tips for the public to help ensure a safe Halloween. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that Halloween is consistently one of the top three days for pedestrian injuries and fatalities, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that children are four times more likely to be struck by a motor vehicle on Halloween than any other day of the year. Because excited trick-or-treaters often forget about safety, motorists and parents must be even more alert. Here are some tips for helping keep young ones safe on Halloween:

Motorists

• Slow down in residential neighborhoods and obey all traffic signs and signals.
• Watch for children walking on roadways, medians and curbs.
• Look for children crossing the street. They may not be paying attention to traffic and cross the street mid-block or between parked cars.
• Turn on your headlights to make yourself more visible - even in the daylight.
• Broaden your scanning by looking for children left and right into yards and front porches.

Parents

• Ensure an adult or older, responsible youth is available to supervise children while trick or treating.
• Plan and discuss the route your trick-or-treaters will follow.
• Instruct children to travel only in familiar areas and along established routes.
• Teach children to stop only at well-lit houses and to never to enter a stranger's home.
• Establish a time for children to return home.
• Tell children not to eat any treats until they get home. (A good idea is to give the children treats from their home to snack on).
• Review trick-or-treating safety precautions, including pedestrian and traffic safety rules.

Trick-or-Treaters

• Be bright at night - wear retro-reflective tape on costumes and treat buckets to improve visibility to motorists and others.
• Wear disguises that don't obstruct vision, and avoid facemasks. Instead, use nontoxic face paint. Also, watch the length of billowy costumes to help avoid tripping.
• Ensure any props are flexible and blunt-tipped to avoid injury from tripping or horseplay.
• Carry a flashlight containing fresh batteries or carry a light up glow stick or necklace.
• Stay on sidewalks and avoid walking in streets if possible.
• If there are no sidewalks, walk on the left side of the road, facing traffic.
• Look both ways and listen for traffic before crossing the street.
• Cross streets only at the corner, and never cross between parked vehicles or mid-block.