BE ALERT: As children take to the streets on Halloween to trick-or-treat, their risk of being injured by motorists increases greatly.

In fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that Halloween is consistently one of the top three days for pedestrian injuries and fatalities, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that children are four times more likely to be struck by a motor vehicle on Halloween than any other day of the year. Because excited trick-or-treaters often forget about safety, motorists and parents must be even more alert.

Here are some tips for motorists to help keep young ones safe on Halloween:

• Slow down in residential neighborhoods and obey all traffic signs and signals.

• Watch for children walking on roadways, medians and curbs, and look for children crossing the street.

• Carefully enter and exit driveways and alleys, and turn on your headlights to make yourself more visible – even in the daylight.

• Broaden your scanning by looking for children left and right into yards and front porches.

Here are some tips for parents:

• Ensure an adult or older, responsible youth is available to supervise children under age 12, and plan and discuss the route your trick-or-treaters will follow.

• Instruct children to travel only in familiar areas and along established routes, and establish a time for children to return home.

• Tell children not to eat any treats until they get home.

• Review trick-or-treating safety precautions, including pedestrian and traffic safety rules.

Here are tips for trick-or-treaters:

• Be bright at night – wear retro-reflective tape on costumes and treat buckets to improve visibility to motorists and others.

• Wear disguises that don’t obstruct vision, and avoid facemasks. Instead, use nontoxic face paint. Also, watch the length of billowy costumes to help avoid tripping.

• Ensure any props are flexible and blunt-tipped to avoid injury from tripping or horseplay.

• Carry a flashlight containing fresh batteries, and place it face down in the treat bucket to free up one hand. Never shine it into the eyes of oncoming drivers.

• Look both ways and listen for traffic before crossing the street, and cross streets only at the corner, and never cross between parked vehicles or mid-block.

• Trick-or-treat in a group if someone older cannot go with you.

We hope these pointers are helpful –– and most of all, that your children have fun trick or treating.