MEDIA RELEASE

The County’s Traffic Division wants to make sure that island streets are safe for trick-or-treaters this Halloween by distributing reflective bags and asking the public to report street lights that are not working properly.

Big Island school children from kindergarten to fifth grade will each receive a reflective Halloween trick-or-treat bag as part of the Traffic Division’s Halloween safety program. The division is distributing 14,500 bags to charter, public and private school students, and 10,000 more bags will be handed out by community police and the Department of Parks and Recreation.

The reflective bags are imprinted with safety messages from talking ghosts and a smiling orange pumpkin to remind youngsters to watch for cars, stay in well-lit areas and not to go out alone. Also in conjunction with Halloween safety, elementary teachers will receive the colorful “Rules of the Road” brochure offering safety tips for pedestrians and motorists. The free brochure is also available from the County of Hawai`i Public Works offices in Hilo and Kona.

To assure well-lit streets for trick-or-treaters, the County is also asking for the community’s assistance in identifying street lights that are malfunctioning. Two things can happen with the street lights. Bulbs can burn out, which means the light will not activate at dusk, or the sensor can malfunction and the light can remain on all day.

If a street light in your neighborhood stays lit all day or does not light at night, please call the Traffic Division of Public Works, 961-8341, weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with the following information:

• The street light pole number. This is easily spotted from a car. It is a large silver number located six to seven feet up on the side of the street light pole.

• The street or highway name and a well-known landmark should also be reported.

It may take up to three weeks before malfunctioning street lights are repaired.