Vancouver council to mull program to make streets safer on Halloween

In a bid to make Halloween less dangerous for kids living in urban areas of Vancouver, a city councillor wants to create a safer streets program.

A motion to go before council Wednesday recommends creating a free block party permit for Halloween so residents can temporarily pedestrianize parts of their neighbourhoods, reducing the number of car accidents.

“Halloween is the one night of the year when kids get to take over their neighbourhoods for a few hours of fun,” states the motion brought forth by Vancouver city councillor Lucy Maloney.

However, she notes that it’s also the day of the year with the highest number of child pedestrian traffic deaths and injuries.

Children aged four to eight are 10 times more likely to be killed by a motorist on that one evening than any other day of