Trick-or-treating is a time honored tradition each Oct. 31. But before you open your doors to the witches and superheroes that live on your block, you should take precautions to make your property as safe as possible for potential trick-or-treaters.

Allstate Insurance Company recommends that homeowners take the following steps to help ensure a safe Halloween for everyone:

• Check your outdoor lighting: Make sure your property is adequately lit before trick-or-treaters arrive.

• Inspect Your Property: Make sure the path to your door is safe. Look for cracks in the sidewalk and loose stair railings. Remove any obstacles that can lead to a trip or fall.

• Watch the decorations: Make sure Halloween decorations are not obscuring walkways and causing hazards. Use artificial lighting instead of candles to reduce the risk of fire-related accidents. If you do use candles, make sure you extinguish them before going to bed.

• Drive carefully: With nearly 25 million families participating in trick-or-treating each year, neighborhood streets are going to be crowded. Use extra caution while driving and if you are planning to drive, steer clear of alcohol.

• Keep your pets inside: Even if your dog enjoys the parade of children that arrives on your doorstep each year, the neighborhood children may not enjoy meeting your family pet.

“Homeowners need to realize they can be held liable should a trick-or-treater be injured on their property,” says Kim Bartos, Allstate Northwest region assistant field vice president. “Each October we invite all of the neighborhood children onto our property and drive on crowded neighborhood streets. We need to be extra vigilant about safety during this time and we also need to make sure we have the right amount of insurance protection.”