If there’s one problem with kids, it’s that cars can easily see them and avoid hitting them, especially at night. Wait. That’s wrong. Kids are small and easily overlooked when crossing streets, and never more so than when cloaked completely in black on a dark Halloween night.
Consumerist reader Zack spotted this black bodysuit kids’ costume — which, to be fair, does come in other, brighter colors — and figured it might not be the best idea.
“An all black children’s Halloween costume that partially obscures their vision? It’s listed as a lightning deal on Amazon,” he writes. “Hurry! The ‘invisible pedestrian’ or ‘child struck by a car in the ER’ costume is going quickly.”
Indeed, that ability to vanish into the night is touted as a feature by the company on its website:
“Do we really have to say that this is perfect for Halloween, when you can blend into the night (but not in a creepy or threatening way; in fact you could whistle a bit so people know you’re coming).”
Personally, a whistling shadow might be creepier than a silent one. In any case, there’s a very real danger to kids walking on Halloween, four times as much than on other nights, warns the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
During 1975-1996, from 4 p.m. through 10 p.m. on October 31, a total of 89 deaths occurred among pedestrians aged 5-14 years, compared with 8846 on all other evenings. Overall, among children aged 5-14 years, an average of four deaths occurred on Halloween during these hours each year, compared with an average of one death during these hours on every other day of the year.
As such, to prevent oncoming cars from hitting Junior, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s has some tips for keeping kids safe on Halloween:
• Kids should stick to familiar areas that are well lit and trick-or-treat in groups.
• Choose face paint when possible instead of masks, which can obstruct a child’s vision.
• Decorate costumes with reflective tape and have kids carry glow sticks or flashlights.
Excluded from that list? Cloaking your child in invisibility and covering up his face.
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist
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