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Person Trapped in Car Released by Fire Crew

December 10, 2014 By

A person trapped underwater in a car for nearly 20 minutes was freed by firefighters.

According to police, they received calls at 3 p.m. that a vehicle was sinking in a brook which runs along Custom Drive in Old Saybrook. They responded together with firefighters and entered the water to help the person trapped in the vehicle. Another person had managed to leave the car and was helped to dry land by a state police trooper.

Crews took 19 minutes to free the person trapped inside the vehicle and emergency personnel then began CPR.

Both victims were taken to Middlesex Medical Center Shoreline where one is in a stable condition. The other, who was critical, was flown to Yale-New Haven Hospital. In addition one police officer was treated for mild hypothermia.

Police do not know what caused the accident and the investigation is still ongoing.

If you have been injured in a serious automobile accident,  you may be entitled to monetary compensation. For an immediate and cost-free case evaluation and consultation please immediately call Hastings, Cohan, and Walsh, LLP –(888) 244-5480. We are here to help.

Filed Under: Waterbury Accident

Motorcycle Crash with Car Leads to Serious Injuries

December 6, 2014 By

On Sunday morning there was a serious motorcycle crash in Canton at the intersection of Route 179 and Route 202.

According to police, the accident happened just before 11 a.m. on Sunday and crews were immediately dispatched to the scene. The accident happened between a car and a motorcycle and when police, EMS and a fire team arrived, they determined that at the motorcycle rider appeared to be in serious condition, therefore the victim was airlifted by Life Star to Hartford Hospital for treatment.

Route 179 was closed for many hours at the Ocean State Job Lot near the intersection with Route 202 as the investigation, run by the North Central Municipal Accident Reconstruction Team, took place.

According to Canton Police, the cause of the crash still remains under investigation and no charges have been filed at this time.

If you have been injured in a serious motorcycle accident,  you may be entitled to monetary compensation. For an immediate and cost-free case evaluation and consultation please immediately call Hastings, Cohan, and Walsh, LLP –(888) 244-5480. We are here to help.

Filed Under: Waterbury Accident

Cyclist Awarded $800,000 Following Accident

November 18, 2014 By

A Hartford jury awarded nearly $800,000 having injured his back after his bicycle collided with a pickup truck.

Around 8 a.m. in July 2011, Edmundo Juarez, 37, of Bloomfield, was riding on Hartford Road in Simsbury when he was hit by a Ford pickup driven by 85 year old Frank Sponzo of Simsbury. Sponzo pulled out from a stop sign at the intersection with East Weatogue Road and Hartford Road. He hit Juarez with his left front fender and the cyclist flew 30 feet in the air and landed on the other side of the road’s median.

Juarez was taken to John Dempsey Hospital in Farmington and treated for bruising to his shoulder and knee, a headache, sprains to both wrists and a lower back injury.

After a few months, all of the injuries had healed, except for the back injury, which was eventually diagnosed as a herniation of a disc. This has left him with a 10 percent permanent partial disability rating and physiotherapy and steroidal injections in his back only give temporary relief.

Sponzo maintained his view was obstructed due to trees and bushes at the intersection, but having studied aerial photographs of the scene, the jury felt his view was clear and awarded Juarez $796,426.

If you have been injured in a serious automobile accident,  you may be entitled to monetary compensation. For an immediate and cost-free case evaluation and consultation please immediately call Hastings, Cohan, and Walsh, LLP –(888) 244-5480. We are here to help.

 

Filed Under: Waterbury Accident

Connecticut University Carries Out Survey of Texting While Driving

November 11, 2014 By

AT&T has just released a survey of just over a thousand adults as part of a campaign against texting while driving. The survey was carried out with David Greenfield who is a professor at the School of Medicine at the University of Connecticut and the founding member of the Center for Internet and Technology Addiction.

The survey coincides with the wider provision of an app from AT&T, which automatically turns off text message alerts when the vehicle is moving at more than 15 mph and sends a message to the person who is trying to contact the driver saying that they are busy and cannot text back.

According to Greenfield, drivers feel compelled to check their phone when it bleeps as we all experience an increase in a chemical in the brain which makes us feel happy when we get a text message or email.

However, even though 98 percent of those surveyed said that they knew texting while driving is dangerous, 75 percent of them said they still did it. Two thirds of them said they read messages while stopped at a stop sign or red light and more than 25 percent said they actually send texts while driving.

If you have been injured in a serious automobile accident involving distracted driver,  you may be entitled to monetary compensation. For an immediate and cost-free case evaluation and consultation please immediately call Hastings, Cohan, and Walsh, LLP –(888) 244-5480. We are here to help.

Filed Under: waterbury car accident

Recall of Some Ford Vehicles

November 4, 2014 By

Ford Motor Company has announced that Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX models from 2007 and 2008 have possibly got corroded fuel tank reinforcement brackets which could lead to a fuel leak or a possible fire.

They have therefore decided to recall more than 200,000 of the vehicles sold across 22 states including Connecticut.

The problem is the potential corrosion under the reinforcement brackets which attach the fuel tank to the chassis which could result in gas leaking out of the tank which is an obvious fire hazard. Owners may have become aware of the problem either from smelling gasoline or a “check engine” light flashing.

So far there have been no accidents or injuries reported due to the problem but there has been one fire that is known of.

Owners of those vehicles affected are asked to go to their local Ford dealership to have their vehicles checked where the fuel tank will be replaced or repaired at no charge.

If you have been injured in a serious automobile accident involving a recalled vehicle,  you may be entitled to monetary compensation. For an immediate and cost-free case evaluation and consultation please immediately call Hastings, Cohan, and Walsh, LLP –(888) 244-5480. We are here to help.

Filed Under: waterbury car accident

Facts About Traffic Safety Around the World

October 27, 2014 By

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), someone somewhere in the world is killed in a motor vehicle crash every 30 seconds. That equates to over 3,300 car crash fatalities every day and more than one million every year. The WHO has compiled a number of other facts about road safety around the world some of which are as follows.

Low and middle income countries account for only 40 percent of the world’s automobiles yet they account for over 85 percent of the world’s car crash fatalities.

The WHO estimates that over the next five years, car crashes will become the third leading cause of premature death around the world.

More than 500 children are killed in car crashes every day in the world and in certain Middle Eastern and Asian countries, pedestrians account for up to half of all deaths resulting from a traffic accident.

Nearly three times as many children 15 years of age and under are killed in car crashes in developing countries as are killed in industrialized nations.

In Africa, more people between the ages of 15 and 44 are killed in car accidents than by malaria.

The global financial cost associated with car crashes is estimated by the WHO to be between $65 billion and $100 billion.

If you have been injured in a serious automobile accident in Waterbury you may be entitled to monetary compensation. For an immediate and cost-free case evaluation and consultation please immediately call Hastings, Cohan, and Walsh, LLP –(888) 244-5480. We are here to help.

Filed Under: Waterbury Accident, waterbury car accident, Waterbury driver safety

Higher Fines for Seat Belt Law Violations Lead to More People Wearing Them

October 13, 2014 By

Research conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2011 revealed that compliance with seat belt laws among drivers across the United States substantially increased when the amount and frequency of fines for violating those laws increased. The NHTSA confirmed through reports associated with the research that making seat belt laws primary rather than secondary in terms of enforcement is the most effective way to get drivers to buckle their seat belts every time they get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. States with primary seat belt law enforcement and hefty fines for violators have the lowest rates of violations in the country.

States have been trying for years to get people to establish a habit of buckling their seat belts but have found it difficult to do so. Habitual seat belt use nationwide was at 85 percent in 2010 which is encouraging but still much lower than other countries like Canada, Australia, and many countries in Europe, all of which have usage rates in the upper 90th percentile. The research conducted by the NHTSA proved to legislators that stiffer penalties increased seat belt law compliance but that the United States still has plenty of room for improvement in the way of regular seat belt use by America’s drivers.

 

Filed Under: Waterbury Accident, Waterbury driver safety

Drunk Driving Facts

October 13, 2014 By

Drunk Driving Facts

Teaching young drivers about the dangers of drinking and driving is an essential part of their development as safe drivers. It can be challenging, however, to know how to broach the subject and what points to cover. Facts about drunk driving can be a great place to start a conversation with a young driver.

  • Every year there are approximately 16,000 people killed in car crashes that are the direct result of drunk driving.
  • Alcohol is a contributing factor in nearly 50 percent of all traffic related deaths on America’s roads.
  • Every 53 minutes, one person is killed in the United States from drunk driving. This works out to 27 people killed every day.
  • Every two minutes in the United States, a person suffers a serious injury as the result of an alcohol-related car crash.
  • Car crashes are the number one cause of death among young people between the ages of 13 and 19 with fully one-third of those crashes involving alcohol.
  • In 2010, 211 children were killed in alcohol related car crashes. 623 percent of those children were passengers in the car that was being driven by the drunk driver.
  • Law enforcement efforts and other legislation throughout the United States related to drinking and driving has helped cut the fatality rate of drunk driving by 50 percent since 1980.

If you have been injured in a serious automobile accident in Waterbury you may be entitled to monetary compensation. For an immediate and cost-free case evaluation and consultation please immediately call Hastings, Cohan, and Walsh, LLP –(888) 244-5480. We are here to help.

Filed Under: Waterbury Accident, waterbury car accident, Waterbury driver safety

Watch Out for Moose

September 21, 2014 By

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is warning drivers to remain vigilant for increased deer and moose activity near roads as their mating season peaks.

They highlighted that the prime mating season for northern Connecticut’s growing moose population is September through October and will soon peak for deer late October through late December.

Rick Jacobson, director of DEEP’s Wildlife Division said that last year around 7,300 deer were killed in the state due to collisions with vehicles and there have been 25 accidents involving a moose and a vehicle between 1995 and 2014. This number is expected to increase as the moose population expands.

DEEP officials advise that if you see a moose or deer when driving, you should slow down and drive defensively. Moose are taller than deer, which means there is more chance of them landing on the windshield if hit by a car, plus they are harder to see at night as they are darker in color than deer.

DEEP also asks drivers to take notice of the “Deer Crossing” signs and to report any collisions with moose and deer to police or DEEP Environmental Conservation police officers.

If you have been injured in a serious automobile accident in Waterbury you may be entitled to monetary compensation. For an immediate and cost-free case evaluation and consultation please immediately call Hastings, Cohan, and Walsh, LLP –(888) 244-5480. We are here to help.

Filed Under: Waterbury Accident

How Should You Proceed if a Dog Bites You?

September 14, 2014 By

The first thing you should do if a dog bites you is to identify the owner and make sure you know where the dog is. If you cannot identify the dog or owner then you will be responsible for your own medical bills.

Secondly, you need to seek medical advice and go to hospital if there is excessive bleeding, or the wound does not heal. You should also go to a doctor if there are signs of infection, the skin is torn or lacerated, or if it was an unfamiliar or rabies infected dog. If you do not know the vaccination record of the animal you should also be tested for rabies.

Next you should file a report with the city animal control center or the police and gather the dog owner’s information such as name and address, telephone number, and the dogs medical and vaccination records and its history.

Finally you need information about the dog owner’s insurance company, the name and address, phone number, claim number and the amount payable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9MMHf87nKg

Filed Under: Waterbury Safety
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