With Halloween being one of the deadliest nights of the year for child pedestrians, News4JAX wants to give trick-or-treaters the tools to have the safest night of frights possible.
“Over the past three years, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that an annual average of 3,200 Halloween-related injuries were treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments,” reported Piedmont Healthcare.
The chance of pedestrian fatalities, children being the most at risk, also reaches 43% higher on Halloween than any other night of the year.
Luckily, there are free tools for the community to counter their chances of joining the morbid statistic.
Using the flashlight feature on your phone can help light up dark streets. Not only is this the most convenient safety tip, but it also increases visibility for trick-or-treaters and cars driving by.
Free safety apps like Life360 allow parents to track their trick-or-treaters' whereabouts and include a virtual fence feature that allows parents to be notified if their child wanders outside of the approved area.
For those worried about who their kids might encounter during the night, another free app is called the NSOPW mobile app. The app displays a map of your area that includes the names and addresses of any residents listed on the National Sex Offender Registry.
RELATED: Do any sex offenders, predators live along your trick-or-treating route? Here’s how to find out
Finally, to prevent the all-too-familiar Halloween tummy aches, the FDA released a free re-call app to let parents know when the Food and Drug Administration reports a contaminated candy bar.
For more on the holiday, check out our Halloween section.