Cleveland Police issue Halloween roads message
Roads policing officers are issuing a warning that dark, creepy costumes can lead to danger on the roads, as statistically more accidents happen on Halloween (31st October).
Over recent years, reports of serious and slight injury collisions have been up to 400% higher on Halloween nationally.
In Cleveland, there were 15 serious or slight collisions on 31st October between 2016 and 2020 and in Durham there were 19 on the same day.
In order to help reduce the number of collisions, roads policing officers are reminding drivers to be more aware of young people who may be out trick or treating and may be in costumes which reduce visibility and are dark in colour.
Inspector Kevin Salter, from the Cleveland and Durham Specialist Operations Unit, said: “Generally when the nights get darker and visibility is reduced, we do see more collisions. On 31st October we just want to ensure that drivers are aware that they need to be additionally vigilant due to children who may be out trick or treating, wearing dark clothing and that visibility could be reduced even further.
“We’d also ask parents to keep a close eye on their children whilst out trick or treating, we know it’s an exciting time for young ones and we want them to enjoy themselves. Children could perhaps make their way into the road without being fully aware of the vehicles around, because they’re excited or their visibility could be reduced by wearing costume masks. We want to avoid as many collisions as possible so that we can keep everyone as safe as we possibly can.”