Halloween night can be a hectic time for motorists. Trick-or-treaters can fill the streets in their search for delicious and free candy from their friends and neighbors. Drunk drivers can also pack the roads as they leave Halloween parties without regaining sobriety first. If you’re going to be driving on Halloween night, then you should be extra careful and prioritize safety, starting by reading this quick list of Halloween driving safety tips.
- Never drink and drive: Halloween night – like most popular holidays – tend to see increases in drunk driving arrests and accidents across the country. To help keep this number down, you need to do your part and never drink and drive. If you are going to a Halloween party where there will be alcoholic beverages served, then you have to designate a sober driver who doesn’t have even a single drink.
- Slow down in residential areas: Trick-or-treaters are found in the largest numbers in residential areas, like suburbs and housing complexes. Whenever you are driving through one such area on Halloween night, you should slow down to at least a little below the typical speed limit because there will be an increased chance of someone walking into the road unexpectedly.
- Turn on your headlights: Many Halloween costumes are darkly colored to be spooky, so pedestrians can be more difficult to notice when they are trick-or-treating or walking to a party. Use your headlights a bit before sundown on Halloween. The moment there are long shadows on the road is the moment you should turn on your headlights. By doing so, you can spot pedestrians easier, and vice versa.
- Do not pick up hitchhikers: Sometimes people leaving a Halloween party will go on foot because they don’t have a ride or can’t drive safely. They might ask you to give them a ride home. For your own safety, you should not pick up any strangers, no matter how nice they might seem or how fun their costume looks. If you want to be a good neighbor, you can call an Uber or taxi for them and keep your car parked nearby while they wait for it.
- Postpone your drive: The fewer drivers there are on the streets on Halloween night, the better. If you don’t have to drive anywhere, then you shouldn’t. Thinking of running to the store to pick up a few groceries? Consider postponing the errand until tomorrow. This rule works for every busy holiday that fills the streets with drivers and pedestrians alike.