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Texting While Driving Kills 11 Teens a Day

Texting while driving is a national epidemic which is quickly becoming one of the country’s top killers.

Those who text while driving have six times more chance of having a car accident than if they were driving while intoxicated, and at any given time across the country 800,000 drivers are texting while they drive.

This texting, according to the National Safety Council, causes 1,600,000 accidents a year and 330,000 injuries per year. Texting is now responsible for nearly 25% of all car accidents, with teens suffering the most saying that it is their number one driving distraction. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Fatality Facts 11 teens die every single day from texting while driving.

The National Highway Transport Safety Administration says when you text while driving you are 23 times more likely to crash and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute say it is the same as driving blind for five seconds at a time.

If you have been injured a serious auto accident in Danbury, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. Call the accident attorneys at Danbury accident attorneys – Hastings, Cohan & Walsh, LLP  now for an immediate consultation. 58 Post Road Danbury, CT 06810    (888) 244-5480.

What Medication Should a First Aid Kit Contain?

A first aid kit is one essential item you should have in your home and car. As well as bandages, band aids, swabs and gauze, it should also contain a range of medication. However, make sure it is kept out of reach of young children.

These are some of the medications you should have in your first aid kit.

Activated charcoal, which is used in the event of poisoning, but only use if advised to by the poison control center or a medical professional. Gels and creams for minor burns, such as aloe vera. Something for stings or allergic reaction such as oral antihistamine and antihistamine cream as well. Anti diarrhea medication, and anti vomiting medication such as over the counter travel sickness pills.  Pain relievers, such as aspirin and acetaminophen and ibuprofen. Calamine lotion, and over the counter hydrocortisone cream. If prescribed by a doctor, drugs to treat an allergic attack such as an epinephrine auto injector.

Finally it should contain a syringe, medicine cup and spoon and disposable plastic gloves.

How to Prepare for a House Fire

Home fires are more common than you might think with an estimated 365,000 reported In 2012, and 2,380 associated civilian deaths in the United States.

Once a fire begins in the home, in can spread rapidly, leaving as little as two minutes to escape safely. You should ensure that you and your family have a ready prepared escape plan.

Firstly walk around your home and look at all the possible exit and escape routes. You should try and see if there are at least two ways out of each room. Everyone must understand the plan, and you should make sure that the windows and doors are easy to open.

Smoke alarms should be installed in every bedroom, outside each bedroom and on each level of the home. You should ensure they are all connected so that if one sounds, they all do.

All of you should agree a meeting place, such as under a nearby lamp post, or at a neighbor’s house, so that it will be easy to check that everyone has escaped from the fire.

Finally ensure that your house number can be easily seen by emergency services and cut down any trees or bushes which might be obstructing it.

If you have been injured a serious auto accident in Danbury, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. Call the accident attorneys at Danbury accident attorneys – Hastings, Cohan & Walsh, LLP  now for an immediate consultation. 58 Post Road Danbury, CT 06810    (888) 244-5480.

How You Should Wear a Seat Belt

Wearing a seat belt is one of the simplest but most important things you can do to ensure that you and your passengers do not suffer serious injury or even death in the event of an accident.

In fact, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), more than 15,000 lives are saved each year in the United States due to drivers and their passengers wearing seat belts when they were in accidents.

However, it is one thing to wear a seat belt but it is equally important to wear it correctly.

The strap that goes across your lap should fit snugly over your hips and upper thigh area and you should ensure it is not over the stomach as that could cause serious injuries.

The shoulder strap should rest across the chest and shoulders but should never fall across your neck or face nor should it be placed under your arms or behind your back. Any one of these positions could also cause serious injury.

If you have been injured a serious auto accident in Danbury, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. Call the accident attorneys at Danbury accident attorneys – Hastings, Cohan & Walsh, LLP  now for an immediate consultation. 58 Post Road Danbury, CT 06810    (888) 244-5480.

Enhanced Speed Enforcement Program

In New Milford from August  5 through September 30 the police will be carry out “enhanced speed enforcement” with the aim of reducing speed related accidents by 15%. New Milford police records show that 70 accidents in 2013 were caused by people driving too fast for the road conditions and so far this year, 55 accidents were also due to the same reason.

There are also additional accidents where speed has been a contributing factor, such as one driver stopping suddenly and the vehicle behind running into him as it is travelling too fast with not enough time to stop.

Police Officer, David Petersen wrote four tickets and issued one warning in the first hour he was on patrol near Faith Church. Most of those ticketed were driving at 60 mph in a 45 mph zone. He said that drivers usually travel at around 55 mph even though the posted limit is 45 mph, and although it is usually up to the officer to decide whether to ticket or not, as it was a no-nonsense day, all those over the limit would receive a ticket.

The program is being paid for with a $20,000 grant from the state Department of Transportation’s Connecticut Highway Safety Plan.

If you have been injured in an accident involving negligence , you may be entitled to monetary compensation. Call the accident attorneys at Danbury accident attorneys – Hastings, Cohan & Walsh, LLP  now for an immediate consultation. 58 Post Road Danbury, CT 06810    (888) 244-5480.

Teenager killed

On Saturday, just before 11.00 a.m. on Candlewood Lake Road, north of the intersection with Kellogg Street, there was a two car collision resulting in one fatality.

According to police reports, Amanda Sarapochiello, aged 19, was driving a Subaru Outback northwards when she crossed the double yellow center line and collided with a Honda Pilot which was being by a 16-year-old Brookfield resident.

Following the accident, both drivers were taken by ambulance to Danbury Hospital, where Sarapochiello was pronounced dead shortly after she arrived. According to the police, the 16-year-old, whose name was not released, did not receive serious injuries.

The police closed Candlewood Lake Road from the time of the crash until about 2:15 p.m. Saturday so that they could investigate the incident. They advised that so far, no charges have been brought in the accident.

If you have been injured in an accident involving negligence , you may be entitled to monetary compensation. Call the accident attorneys at Danbury accident attorneys – Hastings, Cohan & Walsh, LLP  now for an immediate consultation. 58 Post Road Danbury, CT 06810    (888) 244-5480.

Pilot Survives Crash Unscathed

A plane crashed his single engine plane into a swamp, bordered by hills and heavy overgrowth, a quarter of a mile south of Danbury Municipal Airport on Thursday night. Neighbors said they heard the crash but did not see it.

When authorities arrived, the man, so far unidentified, had climbed out of his cockpit and was uninjured on top of the plane, calling 911 and his family and friends. The plane is registered to Lionel G. Brown, of Newtown.

The pilot did not tell the rescuers what went wrong, but according to Bernie Meehan, Dandury’s assistant fire chief, the plane ran into trouble just before it landed and he had no time to get out a distress signal. He said that the pilot knew what he was doing and was wearing his seat belt.

Paul Estefan, airport administrator said the plan was a single-engine 1984 Beechcraft Bonanza and all he knew was that the pilot was on an approach to the runway.

This accident marks the third airplane crash at the Danbury airport since 2011 and the National Transportation Safety Board will be carrying out an investigation.

If you have been injured in an accident involving negligence , you may be entitled to monetary compensation. Call the accident attorneys at Danbury accident attorneys – Hastings, Cohan & Walsh, LLP  now for an immediate consultation. 58 Post Road Danbury, CT 06810    (888) 244-5480.

Baby Left in Car Dies

Ridgefield police have identified a 15-month-old child who died on Monday, having been left in a car in 90 degree temperatures, as Benjamin Seitz.

Ridgefield Police Capt. Jeff Kreitz said that Benjamin was in the car with his father, Kyle Seitz. His normal routine was to drop his son off at a day care center in Ridgefield, get his coffee and then go to his office in Grove Street.

However this particular day the father apparently forgot Benjamin in the back seat and when he found his son in his car at the end of the day he took him directly to Danbury hospital but he was pronounced dead.

Hospital personnel called Ridgefield police, who have declined to provide any further details on the case, and have been joined in the investigation by the State Police Western Connecticut Major Crime Squad and the state attorney’s office in Danbury.

This death closely follows two others in Connecticut where parents were charged with risk of injury to a minor, one in Orange and one in New London, though neither case was fatal.

If you have been injured in an accident involving negligence , you may be entitled to monetary compensation. Call the accident attorneys at Danbury accident attorneys – Hastings, Cohan & Walsh, LLP  now for an immediate consultation. 58 Post Road Danbury, CT 06810    (888) 244-5480.

Cell Phone Use by Drivers Leads to Deaths

One in 77 drivers in Connecticut in 2013 received a ticket for a cell phone infraction. That was a total of 32,000 tickets; around 8 percent of the total tickets issued and generated more than $2 million for the state.

The fines ranged from $125 and $400 depending on whether it was the first, second or third violation.

But they increased in October 2013, up to $150 for a first offense and $500 for a third or higher one.

Connecticut law states that a driver cannot use a hand held cell phone whilst the car is moving, apart from in an emergency. It is also illegal to text when stopped at traffic lights.

According to the National Occupant Protection Use Survey, more than 600,000 drivers across the country are using their cell phones at any one time during the day and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that 421,000 were injured because of a distracted driver in 2012, with 3,328 people being killed.

In Connecticut, accident data from 2012, shows that distracted driving was a contributing factor for drivers in fatal accidents in 3.6 percent of crashes. However, there is no data currently available in the state showing whether accidents have decreased as a direct result of the distracted driving laws but it appears it is a severely under reported problem.

If you have been injured in an automobile accident involving a distracted driver , you may be entitled to monetary compensation. Call the accident attorneys at Danbury accident attorneys – Hastings, Cohan & Walsh, LLP  now for an immediate consultation. 58 Post Road Danbury, CT 06810    (888) 244-5480  

Excessive drinking taking one in ten lives

Excessive Drinking Death

For many people having a daily drink or two of alcohol is a part of their lives, whether drinking socially, or for a celebration or simply a glass of wine or bottle of beer with dinner in the evening.

However a new study by the CDC has shown that one in ten adults aged between 20 and 64 die due to excessive drinking. The definition of excessive is only two drinks or more  a day for men and one or more for women and many people are not aware, that what might appear to be a small amount, can lead to fatal diseases such as cancer, heart disease, liver disease and high blood pressure.

And it is not only those who drink on a daily basis who are at risk of an early death due to alcohol.

The study goes on to say that binge drinking, defined as four or five drinks or more in a single session, contributes to the one in ten statistic, due to accidents, violent behavior, risky sexual behavior and alcohol poisoning.

If you have been injured in an automobile accident involving a driver who driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. Call the accident attorneys at Danbury accident attorneys – Hastings, Cohan & Walsh, LLP  now for an immediate consultation. 58 Post Road Danbury, CT 06810    (888) 244-5480