How to avoid a traumatic Halloween

There are many factors for parents to consider before sending their children out for a night of Halloween fun, ranging from street and costume safety, to stranger danger.

CBS Local Two’s Katie Widner looked into what Valley residents need to know and found the two most important things are that adults need to be aware and children need to be informed.

One family learned that the hard way on Oct. 31, 2007, when a night of trick-or-treating in Cathedral City turned into a nightmare.

“There were two little girls crossing at Vista Chino and Landau, and one was hit and killed because they were wearing dark costumes and were not able to be seen,” said Jennifer Huggins.

Huggins, is a Valley resident and parent of two who remembers the day 13-year-old Crystal Delgado was hit and killed.

A 2012 study released by State Farm Insurance company showed Halloween night is the deadliest day of the year for child pedestrians. The study looked at more than 4 million records of deadly accidents involving child pedestrians over a 20-year span. Delgado was right in the middle of the age range, 12-15 years old, who are said to be most at risk.

“The streets get really congested. Kid’s are kind of in mobs and it’s hard to see them,” Huggins added. They cross the street in mobs and with people not obeying the speed laws it really gets a kind of scary.”

The increase of children out on the streets- coupled with the Valley’s lack of lighting- could make trick-or-treating more like trick-or-trauma.

“Everybody’s distracted.,” said Lt. Glen Hass with the Cathedral City Police Department. “The pedestrians are distracted. Sometimes the drivers are distracted by looking at costumes or trying to find addresses while driving through large groups of people.”

Haas recommends children have a leader or chaperone, that costumes and masks fit properly so kids can see clearly what is in front of them, and lights be added to costumes to make them more visible.

“They should keep some type of lighting device with them, whether it’s flashlights, glow-sticks, reflector items on their clothes, or even some of the LED strobes they sell for bicycles or hikers come in very handy,” Haas said.

He also said it is important that children understand that if they see a car, it does not mean the car sees them and that drivers need to slow down on Halloween night.

Of course, vehicles are not the only danger out there.

“Anybody who is a registered offender is not allowed to give out candy, or have kids coming to their house for candy,” explained Mika Moulton, founding director of Christopher’s Clubhouse. “Kids need to understand if their light is off, do not go to the door.”

Moulton founded the comprehensive community safety education organization after her son Christopher was kidnapped and killed in 1995.

Under Megan’s Law, the state of California has an online sex offender registry, where the public can look up offenders who live in their neighborhood. They can find the name, picture and details on the offense as well.

A search of the Website revealed 61 registered offenders in Palm Springs, 46 in Cathedral City and 23 in the city of Coachella.

Parents can also keep track of trick-or-treaters using their cellphoneS if they have an iPhone. The ‘Find my iPhone App‘ is free with Apple products and is easy to use. It allows parents to track the path of trick-or-treaters in real time.

Moulton recomends parents let their kids know ahead of time that they will be tracking them to avoid any misunderstandings.

“Let your kids know, ‘I just want to keep track of you to know you’re safe,'” Mika said.

She said it is important for parents to realize, something bad could happen to their family.

“None of us ever think it’s going to happen to us. I’m the first one who can tell you that it can,” she said from her home in Palm Desert. “Don’t think that your kids know all there is to know.”

For a printable Halloween Safety Guideline courtesy of Christopher’s Clubhouse, click here.

Step-by-step process to check Megan’s Law.

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