For children, Halloween is a wonderful time of year: the costumes, the candy, more candy, the parties, more candy. All that fun, mixed with all that candy, may make children a tad hyper. Parents don’t mind, too much, since the hyper is generally followed by the crash where Wonder Lake children then sleep the sleep of zombies and vampires, not to mention X-Men and Princesses. But, for drivers, Halloween is a serious challenge.

While Trick-or-Treating, children get excited. They’re anxious to get to the next house and some more candy for their bag of treats. They’re not always as careful as they should be when approaching the road. In fact, with children on both sides of the street, the event begins to take on the atmosphere of a party where, somehow, the rules of the road don’t seem to apply. For drivers, those rules certainly do apply.

It’s always important for drivers to watch out for children darting into the road. But, on Halloween, the potential that a child will do so in front of your car increases dramatically. You can’t afford to drive without the greatest of caution.

Keep in mind that children won’t necessarily use the crosswalks. They could run out from behind parked cars. Additionally, with wet leaves on the pavement, you may find the car reacts, when you hit the brakes, almost as though you’re driving on ice.

Also, remember that some children will Trick-or-Treat beyond daylight hours. In Wonder Lake, the village has established 3 to 8 p.m. as the hours for Trick-or-Treating. Officially, the sun sets Oct. 31 at 5:48 p.m. That means Trick-or-Treaters are likely to be out and about for more than two hours after it gets dark.

Many of the costumes are liable to be dark making the children even harder to see. And, on a cloudy day, which is entirely likely this time of year, a degree of darkness will settle on the community even before the sun goes down.

Halloween in Wonder Lake is a wonderful time of year. Enjoy the festivities. Carve a pumpkin or two, watch a spooky movie, enjoy all the costumes and some candy. But, above all, drive carefully. There will be children on the streets.