I hope you're ready folks. Today is the day. Witches, Zombies and Mummy's all await you. And those are just your fellow commuters on your ride home from work today. Today is Halloween and historically speaking, this afternoon's rush hour is one of the scariest and slowest you'll encounter all year long.
"The afternoon rush on Halloween normally starts earlier than normal on the interstates," said Captain Herb Emory, traffic reporter for NewsTalk WSB. "There's a lot of extra surface street activity. A lot of crosstown traveling. A lot of people rush home to change and then head back out to parties."
With so many parents leaving work early to get home to dress their kids for trick or treating, the freeways and surface streets can become gridlocked. If past Halloween rush hours are any indication, the bumper-to-bumper jam will start very early. The hope is that it will end early too. But in year's past, sometimes the jams remain well into the 7 p.m. hour. That's no fun for anyone.
Unfortunately, as a commuter, there's not much you can do. I expect the bad traffic to begin this afternoon, sometime between two and three. If you an get home before 3 p.m. you should be okay. After 3 p.m., it's definitely a risky proposition.
Just remember to keep your cool when stuck in traffic tonight. Being in a bad mood when you get home will not make anyone's Halloween better.
And once you get home and try to get the kids ready to trick or treat, remember, their safety is more important than anything. It's more important than how good their costume looks and its certainly more important than how much candy they get.
The American Academy of Pediatrics offers these Halloween safety tips to parents:
-Plan costumes that are bright and reflective. Make sure that shoes fit well and that costumes are short enough to prevent tripping, entanglement or contact with flame.
-- Consider adding reflective tape or striping to costumes and Trick-or-Treat bags for greater visibility.
-- Obtain flashlights with fresh batteries for all children and their escorts.
-- Remain on well-lit streets and always use the sidewalk.
-- If no sidewalk is available, walk at the far edge of the roadway facing traffic.
--Only cross the street as a group in established crosswalks (as recognized by local custom). Never cross between parked cars or out driveways. Don't assume the right of way. Motorists may have trouble seeing Trick-or-Treaters. Just because one car stops, doesn't mean others will!
If you aren't heading out with trick or treaters tonight, but you might be driving during the night, please drive carefully. When I drive home from work tonight I will purposefully be driving well below the speed limit, especially in residential neighborhoods where trick or treaters are most likely to be present.
Expect the unexpected tonight on the roads. To a child there are few nights more exciting than Halloween and oftentimes they will not be paying attention to their surroundings. That's why you, as a commuter, need to be extra vigilant when driving tonight.
There is one thing working in our favor tonight though, extra sunlight.
"Thank goodness we are still under Daylight Saving Time," Emory said. "I think that will help us."
Emory and I will be offering extra traffic coverage this afternoon to help get you around the expected delays. We will be providing extra coverage on AM 750 and now 95.5 FM NewsTalk WSB and I will be providing traffic reports from 4-7pm on Channel Two Action News. If you are active on the web you might want to check in with
and wsbradio.com for the very latest.
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