KANSAS CITY, Kan. — For some families, a trunk or treat hosted by the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department on Parallel Parkway Friday kicked off their Halloween weekend.
The drive-thru style event is KCKPD's way to uphold tradition and keep families safe during a pandemic at the same time.
Around the metro, some will do trick-or-treating the old-fashioned way. There are ways to stay safe before walking out the door, including adding some accessories to this year's costume
"They should consider putting reflective tape on there or adding some type of glow stick so that they stick out and motorists can see them," said Stuart Hoffman, executive director of Charlie's House.
Kids are twice as likely to get hit by a car and killed on Halloween than on any other day of the year.
For those who may take the littlest of ghosts and goblins on a night of adventure: pay extra attention to the car seat.
"Make sure that the straps of the car seat are readjusted to allow for that padding that may be part of their costume," Hoffman said.
Once you're out in a neighborhood, kids should avoid darting out into the street between cars and running from house to house.
"If they're walking on the street where there's not a sidewalk available, we really try to recommend people walk so that they're walking basically against or towards traffic that's oncoming towards them. That way they can see it and make sure [if] the car doesn't see them to get out of the way," Capt. Joseph Grasela, commander of KCKPD's Traffic Safety Unit, told KSHB 41 News.
If the unthinkable happens, doctors say an adult will suffer injuries to the lower body first, then head.
In a child: "injuries to the trunk. So the abdomen of the chest and they tend to have a lot of head injuries as well. Because relatively speaking, the head is a large part of their body," Dr. Heather Isom, an emergency medicine physician at University Health, said.
Drivers should watch out for kids between 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. since that's the most popular time to go trick or treating.
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