A nationwide petition started in New Jersey asks the federal government to move Halloween from Oct. 31 to whatever date the last Saturday in October would be.

The petition, started by the Mount Laurel-based Halloween and Costume Association, cites safety and convenience for the reason to move the holiday.

The group states that there are 3,800 Halloween-related injures every year, many of them being children hit by cars while trick-or-treating. The association also says that 82 percent of parents do not use high visibility aids on their children’s costumes, and 63 percent of children do not carry flashlights or glow sticks while out and about.

The association also found that 70 percent of parents asked say that they do not accompany their children while out trick-or-treating.

The petition says that having Halloween on Saturday would allow more parents to get in on the fun with their children. Many say that they are not able to get off work to attend school Halloween events or take their children trick-or-treating.

“It’s harder to have fun with the kids during the week,” says mother Leticia Montoia. “Saturday would be so much easier. We don’t work weekends. We can have fun with the kids on the weekend.”

Over 40,000 people have already signed the petition.

But some parents say that moving Halloween would be against the tradition.

“You can’t move it. Oct. 31 – that’s Halloween. That’s just Halloween,” says Jonathan Glacken.

There have been other petitions to move Halloween in the past, but none of them have gained any traction.