Let Trick-or-Treaters Own the Road: Car-Free Halloween
Posted on by Isabelle Brown
Are you doing anything on Halloween? Let’s plan to leave our cars at home!
Families and groups of friends (and plenty of ghouls and goblins) will be flooding our neighborhoods Monday night, and the best way to help them have fun is to keep our streets car free.
Halloween night can be extremely dangerous. Mix crowds of people with darkness, and drivers are in a challenging position.
There’s plenty of advice we can give to pedestrians on safety—Look both ways, bring a flashlight, don’t run into the street. Wouldn’t it be spooktacular if our trick-or-treaters didn’t have any vehicles slowing them down?
Let’s talk about how we can achieve a car-free Halloween this year!
Stay in. Hand Out Candy!
If you aren’t going hunting for treats, try giving them away! Invite some friends or family over to dress up and pass out candy. It is the perfect way to stay in the Halloween spirit when you’ve outgrown trick-or-treating.
You can make it extra fun by doing a group costume, or decorating your front yard to get all the “ooh’s” and “ahh’s” from the costumed crowds!
Making Room for Those in Need
Halloween is the best night of the year for many children. This sugar-filled night can be overwhelming for kids at the same time.
Think about it: Crowds of people, wearing a costume, talking to so many strangers to ask for candy, scary Halloween decorations, having to be patient and polite, being out after dark on a school night, and remaining aware of your surroundings... That’s a lot for kids who may have sensory issues. Add cars driving by with headlights on, and it can certainly be too much for some trick-or-treaters.
Halloween night isn’t exactly ‘sensory inclusive,’ but we can do our small part by removing one factor within our control, and that’s cars.
Trunk or Treat
Putting our vehicles to use on Halloween is absolutely possible by participating in a Trunk-or-Treat! These gatherings are usually organized by schools or community organizations and are typically more sensory-friendly than traditional trick-or-treating without compromising on fun.
It is safer than the traditional alternative, too, as all vehicles are stationary, and it is a much more controlled environment.
No Tricks, More Treats!
Remembering that Halloween is for families and kids puts safety on top of our priority list. On Monday night, go car-free for the holiday. Stay in with some classic Halloween movies, decorate spooky cookies, and leave your vehicle in the driveway.
Let’s reverse Halloween’s bad reputation for being dangerous for pedestrians. We’re letting the kids run the roads this year!