7 Fall Safety Tips Everyone Should Know

As the leaves change color and the weather becomes crisp, autumn brings an exciting season filled with family, warmth and joy. However, there are certain precautions that everyone should take this fall when it comes to their home and safety, from understanding how best to maintain their home and vehicles to personal safety during colder weather.

Here are some practical tips to keep your family and your property safe this season.

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1. Check Your Smoke Alarm

Ideally, a smoke detector’s batteries should be checked regularly — at least once a month, according to the American Red Cross — but it’s even more important to ensure smoke alarms work in the fall. Because homeowners are turning on heat after months of inactivity, and changes in temperature make house fires more common, homeowners should ensure batteries are changed in smoke detectors to keep their family safe.

In addition to smoke alarms, check the batteries of carbon monoxide detectors and other emergency detector systems in your home to ensure they're functioning properly.

2. Think Twice About Burning Leaves

Autumn is synonymous with falling leaves and the infamously laborious task of raking those leaves up. While most neighborhoods, developments and townships have ways to properly dispose of leaves, some residents in more-rural areas choose to gather up leaves into a pile and burn them.

While it can seem like an easy way to get rid of those pesky leaves, burning fallen leaves produces dangerous and cancer-causing chemicals, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. If burnt on a windy day, the practice can also cause fire to spread. If you have a rural home away from other houses or structures and choose to burn leaves, make sure to wear a protective mask.

3. Use Caution With Candles And Space Heaters

Candles can give a room ambience, remind you of your favorite Thanksgiving dessert (without having to cook it!) or simply warm up a space. But if forgotten, lit candles can cause house fires. In fact, according to the National Candle Association, almost 10,000 home fires a year are caused by improper candle use.

It's important to use caution with candles and remember to do the following:

• Never leave a burning candle unattended.
• Keep burning candles away from potentially flammable objects such as furniture, drapes and decor.
• Ensure children and pets cannot reach or knock over the candle.

Similarly, unattended space heaters can overheat and cause fires, so it’s important to make use of timers and auto-off functions (if applicable) and unplug them when not in use.

The Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI) reports that heating equipment is responsible for more than 65,000 home fires each year, making it the second leading cause of home fires in the United States.

The ESFI recommends reading the manufacturer’s instructions and warning labels carefully before using a heater, as well as inspecting it for cracked or broken plugs or loose connections before each use. A heater should not be used if any wiring is frayed, damaged or worn. Additionally, heaters should be kept at least 3 feet away from flammable items such as paper, clothing and rugs.

As an extra precaution, you may wish to consider putting fresh batteries in your smoke detector or upgrading your current one if it’s been a while. The U.S. Fire Administration recommends fully replacing your smoke detector once every 10 years. Kidde makes a smoke and CO detector that includes alert modes, LED lights and a voice alarm to keep your home protected. It will even provide protection during a power failure.

4. Avoid Slips And Falls

Especially for older persons, autumn can cause many slips and falls outside. Make sure to rake up fallen leaves on high-traffic areas of your yard including your driveway, sidewalk, porch or deck. Fallen leaves become even more dangerous when wet, so get leaves off walking paths before rain comes.

In addition to leaves, frost will descend in many northern parts of the United States as early as late September or early October. Watch for black ice on those same high-traffic areas in the morning to avoid slips, falls and potential injuries. If you look at the weather report and know temperatures will dip below freezing at night, try proactively salting your driveway and sidewalk to minimize risk.

You can also help prevent slips and falls by ensuring there’s proper lighting for any outdoor walkways or areas where people or pets pass through. Ring makes solar-powered pathlights that each shine up to 80 lumens of white light on walkways, driveways and pathways when motion is detected. They stake easily into soft ground and recharge daily in direct sunlight.

For additional security and outdoor light, the Ring Spotlight Cam is a great choice. It features HD video and spotlights that are motion-activated or controlled with the Ring App. Requires Ring Bridge for smart controls. Sold separately. One Ring Bridge supported per household.

With the Ring Spotlight Cam, you can see, hear and speak to anyone on your property from your phone, tablet or PC. There's even a built-in siren you can activate from anywhere via the Ring App.

5. Drive Safely

As the weather gets cooler and the days get shorter, you may need to take some extra precautions on the road. According to the National Safety Council (NSC), nighttime driving comes with the risk of compromising a person's depth perception, color recognition and peripheral vision, and the glare of headlights from an oncoming vehicle can temporarily blind you behind the wheel.

The NSC recommends keeping your windshields and headlights clean and streak-free, dimming the lights on your dashboard, looking away from oncoming lights, and driving a little more slowly to compensate for limited visibility and reduced stopping time.

6. Wear Reflective Clothing At Night

Because it’s getting darker earlier, it’s important to wear reflective clothing when venturing out at night — especially in neighborhoods without well-lit streets. By wearing reflective arm bands, patches, straps or buttons on your clothing, you can reduce the risk of an accident or injury while walking or biking at night. Rena Chris makes highly reflective armbands that can be seen from far away and from any angle.

7. Upgrade Your Home Security System With Ring

With all the fall festivities that will have you out and about this season, there may be many instances where your home will be left unattended. Fortunately, the Ring Alarm Security System can help you keep an eye on your home whether you’re trick-or-treating with the kids for a couple hours or heading out of town for a few days.

The Ring Alarm offers all of the pieces you'll need for peace of mind. And since it’s available in kits of different sizes, you can choose the one that best suits your home. For example, the Ring 8-piece Alarm Security Kit covers up to four windows or doors with Contact Sensors, and adds motion detection to one room. And depending on your security needs, you can add more sensors and security devices at any time.

Not only will you receive notifications for any open doors and windows or movement the alarm picks up, you can also customize your security settings. Set up your Alarm, add other Ring devices, and control them all from the Ring App.

On top of adding more Motions Detectors and Contact Sensors, including the brand new Outdoor Contact Sensors to cover extra rooms and entry points, you can add other security devices such as Ring Alarm Smoke & CO Listeners that can be placed near your existing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to get real-time alerts on your phone if they sound their sirens.

Get the most out of your Ring Alarm when you subscribe to Ring Protect Pro and enroll in ¹24/7 professional monitoring, a service that gives you around-the-clock protection for when an emergency arises in your home. In addition to sounding the siren and sending you notifications when any of your security sensors or Smoke & CO Listeners are triggered, your alarm will also alert the Ring Monitoring Center who will call you to see if you need emergency assistance and request help if necessary.

¹For professional monitoring licenses, visit ring.com/licenses.