Halloween is already in the air—or at least, it has already shown up in the candy aisles of your local grocery stores. That means that it's time to start educating your children on the most dangerous aspect of the holiday: crossing the street. On Halloween, twice as many child pedestrians are killed as are killed on any other day. This is what you and your children should know.

1.) Educate older children as well as younger ones.

Most of the deaths involved children aged 12 to 15—probably because they are the least likely to be walking with adult supervision and the most likely to cut corners and cross the street while away from an intersection or crosswalk. Children aged 5 to 8 are the next biggest group of victims, likely because they aren't necessarily holding a parent's hand but are still likely to dart into traffic out of excitement. Make sure that your children, regardless of age group, realize what danger they face and impress upon them the idea that they still need to use crosswalks and corners when heading from house to house, especially since 70% of accidents occur when pedestrians are away from those areas.

2.) Use basic safety precautions.

Homemade costumes and store-bought costumes can both benefit from reflective tape in order to make the kids more visible. If your child balks at the idea of "spoiling" the look of the costume, get creative: put the anti-reflective tape on the heels and bottoms of their shoes. Drivers will be able to spot their feet pretty easily. You can also add reflective tape to his or her candy bag, basket, or pillowcase. 

You can also invest in glow sticks—they can be styled to look like a fairy's wand or rounded so that they can be worn as bracelets, and they even come in different colors now. Kids think of glow sticks as a toy, as well, so they don't usually complain about having to wear them.

3.) Have a designated safety guide.

Kids have a lot of fun when they travel from house to house in groups, so partner up with someone else in the neighborhood and let one set of parents hand out the candy while the other supervises the kids as they go from house to house. An older teen brother or sister can also supervise, if he or she is too old for (and disinterested) in trick-or-treating. Have the adult that's supervising carry a flashlight and do a head check at every crosswalk to make sure that nobody rushes ahead or gets left behind. Crossing the road in a group is less likely to result in an accident than the crossing of a lone child in the dark.

If your child is involved in an accident despite your best efforts, consider contacting a personal-injury attorney about the possibility of a case. Some drivers resent the presence of trick-or-treaters on the roads and refuse to adjust their driving habits even when they should. Some are just careless. An attorney can help determine if a lawsuit is necessary to recover compensation for your child's injuries.