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Kingsville is asking its residents whether the town should move Halloween to the last Saturday in October, but judging by the results so far in an online survey, many think it’s a scary thought.
Mayor Dennis Rogers posted a link to the survey on his Facebook site earlier this week. As of Thursday morning, there were 218 respondents, with 84 per cent rejecting the idea.
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The suggestion came out of a discussion during a meeting of the committee of the whole earlier in the year, Rogers said in his post.
“I have seen this in many other places and always thought it was an interesting idea,” he said.
The survey is available on the haveyoursaykingsville.ca platform council started to garner residents’ feedback on a variety of issues.
The survey page offers pros and cons of the move.
Arguments in favour of Halloween on the last Saturday in October include:
It would be safer for children, allowing Halloween to start earlier, during daylight hours. It would make Halloween “more enjoyable and less stressful,” since parents could enjoy the day without the rush of getting children ready quickly when they return from work. Parents wouldn’t have to worry about their children staying up later due to a “sugar high.” It would reduce the impact on schools by avoiding the distraction caused by the coming excitement of the evening.
As for the cons, the survey lists:
Children might be on the streets during one of the more “dangerous nights of the week,” and there may be an increase in alcohol consumption on a Saturday, possibly creating more dangerous situations. Allowing more time for Halloween on a Saturday might provide more time to engage in “mischievous activities,” given the many pranks associated with the holiday. Moving the holiday changes the tradition away from Oct. 31.
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Others have looked at moving Halloween. The Farmers’ Almanac proposed the idea in 1999, then again earlier this year.
Many of the advantages the publication suggests are similar to those on the Kingsville survey, but the Farmers Almanac also suggests moving the holiday would allow more organizations the opportunity to sponsor and participate in Halloween parties and parades, and it suggests the evening would be safer because there would be less traffic on the roads.
There are about 4 million children of trick-or-treating age in Canada.
Ontario personal injuries lawyers at Gluckstein cite on their website a study that suggests children are more likely to be struck and killed by vehicle on Halloween than on any other night of the year, with the most dangerous time between 5 and 8 p.m.
The Ottawa-based Traffic Injury Research Foundation says children are three times more likely to be killed by a vehicle on Halloween and the risk of involvement in a fatal collision increases up to 10 times for children from four to eight years old.
Key factors include low visibility due to children being on or near the road at dusk, street safety crossing rules are more often neglected, costumes can decrease visibility, and there may be an increase in impaired driving.
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The foundation says six in 10 pedestrians killed in traffic were trying to cross the road, and a similar number were killed at night or in dim conditions.
ProCon.org, a debating website owned by the Britannica Group – publishers of the famed encyclopedia – has looked into the idea of changing Halloween to the last Saturday in October.
The organization found that in the United States, there was an 83 per cent increase in fatal crashes involving children and a 55 per cent increase in pedestrian fatalities when Halloween falls on a weeknight.
Trick or treating during daylight hours would be safer, ProCon said.
However, ProCon also says Saturday is the most dangerous day of the week on the roads, often because people start drinking earlier in the day and drunk drivers are involved in more than 25 per cent of pedestrian deaths on Halloween.
Drivers aged 15 to 25 are responsible for almost one-third of all fatal accidents involving children on Halloween, ProCon says.
bamacleod@postmedia.com
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