Personal Injury Cases – Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone & Morelli

According to the Hartford Courant, two teens were injured and three teens recently killed in a devastating car accident. The crash took place at a spot that has been dubbed “the kid’s spot,” by locals.  Unfortunately, the teens may have been engaging in a dangerous joyride at the time the accident happened.

Our Hartford car accident lawyers know that teens are always at high risk of car accidents and that car wrecks are a top cause of fatalities for young people. Unfortunately, one of the prime reasons why teenagers are more likely to die in car accidents is because they often take dangerous risks.

Dangerous Driving Behavior May Have Led to Fatal Wreck

According to the Courant, a 19-year-old South Windsor teen was driving a 2003 Ford Explorer with four friends inside of the vehicle. The car left the road and hit a tree in a wooded area between nearby homes.  The car was reportedly torn up, with debris strewn in a field near to the crash site. The 19-year-old driver, and a 17-year-old and 16-year-old passenger were all injured. Two other teens were killed.

Investigators have still not released information about the cause of the accident or determined why it occurred. However, the police chief indicates that speeding was a factor in causing the wreck.

Despite the lack of official information, however, the father of a 15-year-old passenger in the car who was killed in the crash believes that he knows why the accident happened. He said that he, himself, had been in a crash at that same spot almost 25-years earlier and that he believes that his daughter’s accident occurred for the same reason that his did more than two-decades ago.

His speculation is that his own crash, and his daughter’s, were both caused as a result of the car speeding over a large bump in the road. The bump has become known as “the kid’s spot,” because kids enjoy going over it for fun. Kids can speed over the bump, catching air when they go over the raised portion of the hilly roads. This is seen by some teens as an enjoyable pastime and a great place to joyride.

While the police have not said whether the bump played a role in causing the accident, it is likely that it did so. Unfortunately, this is a tragic coincidence that father and daughter were both in accidents in the same location while engaged in the same dangerous behavior. The recent accident, of course, was much worse because two teens lost their life while the victims’ father had survived his youthful joyride.

Unfortunately, kids make dangerous choices behind the wheel all the time, including going out and looking for thrills that can create a serious risk of a fatal accident.  This is especially true during the summer months when kids are off from school, which is why the period from Memorial Day to Labor Day is generally known as the “100 deadliest days” for teen drivers.  Parents need to be aware of these risks and could potentially help to prevent tragedies from occurring by talking to their teens and supervising their driving behavior as carefully as possible. Likewise, municipalities have an obligation to fix road defects 0r other known road dangerous that may lead to or contribute to a serious or fatal traffic collision.

If you were injured in a car accident, contact the Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone & Morelli, by calling  1-800-WIN-WIN-1.

According to the New Haven Independent, a 25-year-old motorcycle rider lost his life recently as a result of an auto accident. The motorcycle and a car collided on Dixwell Avenue near the intersection of Dixwell and Pond Street. When police responded to the scene, the motorcycle rider was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. 

Our New Haven motorcycle accident lawyers know that motorcyclists are significantly more likely to die in collisions than drivers or passengers in other types of vehicles. Unfortunately, this accident was yet another situation where a young life was cut short as a result of a tragic crash.

Fatalities Occur when Bikers are Thrown from Motorcycles

According to the New Haven Independent, the recent fatal motorcycle accident involved a Chevrolet Camaro and a motorcycle. The Camaro was traveling north on Dixwell Avenue while the motorcycle rider was headed south. The car made a left turn onto Pond Street at the intersection and a collision occurred with the motorcycle rider.

As a result of the collision, the motorcycle rider was ejected from his bicycle. The bike traveled for a long distance and the motorcycle rider hit the car and was killed. The cause of the accident has not yet been determined and police are uncertain as to who was to blame for the crash. The Motorcycle Safety Foundation reports failure to yield and turning left in front of an oncoming motorcycle is the leading cause of motorcycle accidents in the United States.

Accidents frequently happen at intersections where motorcycle riders and drivers meet and are especially common when a driver is turning left. A driver making a left turn might cut off a motorcycle rider and fail to yield the right-of-way; may underestimate the speed at which the motorcycle rider is approaching the intersection or may not even see the motorcycle rider at all.

All of this can lead to disaster for a motorcycle rider because of the fact that a bike provides almost no protection for a rider. It is entirely too common for motorcycle riders to be thrown from their bikes when an accident happens. In a best-case scenario, being thrown from a bike usually causes at least some minor injuries including bruises and road burn. In a worst case scenario, through, the biker flying through the air and striking the road or other vehicles will sustain serious injury to the head, spine, back or neck. These serious injuries can result in death.

The limited protection provided by the bike and the fact that motorcyclists are so often ejected from their vehicles contributes to the high injury and fatality rate. The NHTSA, for example, estimates that motorcycle riders are thirty-times as likely to die in a crash as those in passenger cars and are five-times as likely to be injured when compared with drivers or passengers in other types of vehicles.

Because of the serious risk to motorcycle riders, drivers need to be careful to avoid causing a deadly wreck. This is especially true at intersections and when drivers are changing lanes, as a drivers failure to look or failure to yield are among the top causes of deadly motorcycle accidents.

If you were injured in a motorcycle accident, contact the Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone & Morelli, by calling  1-800-WIN-WIN-1.

The Metro-North derailment and crash that injured 72 people on May 17 remains under investigation, and officials are examining a fractured section of rail as a possible cause. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board arrived a day after the accident and planned to be on the site between 7 to 10 days. According to media reports, the investigators will look at the brakes and performance of the trains, the condition of the tracks, crew performance and train signal information, among other things.

Our Bridgeport train accident attorneys know that railroad accidents can often lead to very serious injuries and result in significant legal complications. That’s why it is important for any passengers or train employees who were injured in the collision to contact a personal injury lawyer serving Bridgeport, Fairfield and all of Connecticut. Contact the Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone & Morelli promptly to learn about your legal options. Call 1-800-WIN-WIN-1

According to a report in Newsday, Anthony Bottalico, the general chairman of the Association of Commuter Rail Employees, said the cars involved in the crash (called M8 models) were introduced in 2011. However, the tracks on sections of the New Haven Line are older jointed rails, which Bottalico said are bolted together and prone to cracking. He said most modern railroads, including the rest of the Metro-North system, use “ribbon rail,” also known as continuously welded rail.

Condition of Rails Considered in Metro-North Train Accident Investigation

While it’s still early in the investigation, the condition and age of the rails may be a key factor in determining liability. A day after the crash, National Transportation Safety Board member Earl Weener told the Washington Post that a broken rail is being studied to determine if it is linked to the accident. He said he wasn’t sure if the accident caused the fracture or if the rail was damaged before to the crash.

The Metro-North train, which was headed east from New York, derailed on May 17 and was hit by a train headed west from New Haven, according to media reports. At the Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone & Morelli, our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families. We understand this was a devastating and frightening accident for all involved, and fortunately no one was killed. As of May 19, nine of the injured remained in hospitals, according Newsday.

Fortunately for people living in Connecticut and New York who rely on Metro North, significant train accidents are fairly rare occurrences. The last major train collision involving Metro North occurred in 1988. A train engineer was killed in Mount Vernon, N.Y., when one train with no passengers rear-ended another train, railroad officials told Newsday.

If you were injured in the Metro-North train collision in Fairfield/Bridgeport, protect your rights. Call 1-800-WIN-WIN-1 or complete the online contact form to reach the Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone & Morelli. We have several office locations in Connecticut, including one at 376 Whalley Avenue, New Haven, 06511.

For children, families and seniors, a pet can be an important part of the family and a daily companion. Many seniors who live on their own outside of nursing homes or residential communities have pets and studies have even shown that having a dog can extend your life for as long as seven years. Unfortunately, however, new data shows that bringing your pet in the car can be very dangerous. This is true for people of all ages, but especially for senior citizens.

Our New Haven, CT accident attorneys know that bringing a pet in the car with you can be a distraction, especially if the pet is on your lap or is unrestrained in the vehicle. Now, a recent study shows that a pet in the car with you can significantly increase your accident risk.

Pets are a Dangerous Distraction

Highway safety advocates advise that it is dangerous for a driver to look away from the road for more than two seconds. This means that anything in your car that causes you to look away for longer than two seconds will increase the chances of a traffic crash occurring. Cell phones are one of the most common distractions and a lot of attention is paid to talking and texting as a primary cause of preventable traffic collisions. However, having a pet in the car can also cause you to look away for at least two seconds.

For seniors, any type of distraction in the car that causes an increase in cognitive or physical workload can be risky because older drivers have slower response times and cognitive performance than younger drivers. This means that while a pet in the car can be risky for anyone, the situation is even worse for a senior who will take longer to focus again after being distracted and who will be slower to respond if something unexpected happens on the road.

To get more information on how a pet in the car might affect a senior’s car accident risk, researchers at the University of Alabama-Birmingham interviewed more than 2,000 seniors who lived on their own rather than in a nursing home or assisted living community.  NBC News reported that a total of 691 of the seniors who were interviewed had pets, and more than half with animal companions said they took their pets with them at least occasionally when driving. When pets went along for the ride, they usually sat either in the front passenger seat or on the back seat.

These pet co-pilots unfortunately had a major impact on whether a senior would be involved in an accident In fact, the crash rate for seniors who had a pet in the car was around double the accident rate of those who had no pets or who said that they never drove with pets.

This data shows that seniors need to be very careful when traveling with animals. Restraining the animals properly in the vehicle could be one important way to reduce the accident risk.

Most people–including 83 percent of the seniors surveyed–agree that riding with an unrestrained animal is dangerous. Yet, only 16 percent of those who traveled with their pets said they used restraints. If more seniors would crate or otherwise secure their animals when driving, then there may not be such an increase in the accident risk associated with traveling with a four-legged member of the family.

Contact the Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone & Morelli, by calling  1-800-WIN-WIN-1 or 100 Farmington Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105.

On March 14, the CT Post reported that five people were injured at the UConn Health Center in Farmington. The CT Post did not indicate how serious the injuries were; however, emergency personnel were reportedly on the scene of the accident. The incident was described as a construction accident and those injured were performing work.

Our Hartford, CT accident lawyers know that construction accidents can often cause very serious injury. In many cases, when an injury happens on a construction site, significant legal complications can also occur as a result.

Construction Accident Injures Five

The March construction accident at UConn occurred in the school’s Research Development Center. A spokesperson for the school interviewed by the CT Post indicated that the Research and Development Center is currently in the process of being remodeled. Workers were making progress on the remodeling work when ceiling tiles started to come down. Five of the workers suffered injury as a result of the falling ceiling tiles, necessitating medical treatment and a response from emergency personnel.

The CT Post reported that no one was evacuated, even after the ceiling tiles began to fall, because the building is considered structurally sound. While the building as a whole may be sturdy and present no risk to other workers, the fact remains that five people got hurt on the job and may have financial and other losses because of it.

Construction Accidents and Workers’ Rights

When someone gets hurt on the job, the law aims to make sure that he or she is not left financially ruined as a result of a work injury. The law established a workers’ compensation system, which is considered an exclusive remedy system.

Basically, under workers’ comp, you can get compensation only through workers’ comp, and you cannot sue. Your coverage is a little broader because you don’t have to prove your employer was negligent, but you also don’t get damages for things like pain and suffering.With many construction accidents, however, there is an alternative to workers’ compensation. If there was any third party who was responsible in any way for causing the injury as a result of negligence, then a work injury claim can be made against the third party. This can take the form of a standard personal injury lawsuit, with its broader financial recovery as compared to workers’ compensation.

A third party responsible for a construction site injury might include a non-employer project manager overseeing the construction; an architect or engineer responsible for design or construction supervision; or the manufacturer of equipment that malfunctioned and led to the injury. Those who have suffered more serious injury should be entitled to appropriate compensation, either through workers’ comp or through a lawsuit. Incidents like the ceiling falling on the workers’ head are not isolated incidents. Falling objects and workers who are struck by objects are among the most common causes of fatal work accidents each year.

Earlier this year in Avon, three teens were critically injured in a car accident when the 16-year-old driver with a learner’s permit slammed into a utility pole, splitting the vehicle in half.

Our  New Haven car accident lawyers understand this is sadly part of a growing national trend of young drivers increasingly involved in fatal accidents. It’s been well-established that motor vehicle crashes are the No. 1 cause of death for teens, and recent weeks have seen a sharp spike in the number of young lives claimed on our roads.

In fact, in a single week, 20 teens died in five crashes in five states. That doesn’t even count the number of accidents involving teen drivers in which injuries were severe or life-threatening.

USA Today reports that while the circumstances surrounding each crash varied slightly, the one common denominator was this: Teen drivers with teen passengers.

This is not unsurprising, considering the study released last year by the American Automobile Association, which found that the risk of a 16- or 17-year-old driver being killed in a crash increased with each additional passenger in the vehicle under the age of 21.

The report, “Teen Driver Risk in Relation to Age and Number of Passengers,” found hat teen driver fatality rates:

• Increase by nearly 45 percent when there is one passenger under 21 in the vehicle;
• Increase by 100 percent when there are two passengers in the vehicle under age 21;
• Increase by 400 percent when there are three or more passengers under the age of 21 in the car.

What’s more, having someone else in the vehicle who was at least 35-years-old reduced the risk of a fatality by more than 60 percent and the overall accident risk by nearly 50 percent.

This drives home the message that not only are graduated driver’s license laws restricting young drivers and teen passengers critical, so too is parental involvement.

Unfortunately, a recent survey by the Allstate Foundation and the National Safety Council revealed that many parents are lagging behind in this regard. The researchers discovered that more than 40 percent of parents of teenagers don’t realize that motor vehicle crashes are the top cause of teen deaths. Further, three-fourths erroneously believe that distractions and unnecessary risks are the main reason why teens have a higher accident rate. In fact, the main cause is driver inexperience.

This further underscores the role that parents need to take on while their teens are learning how to drive. It involves not only modeling good driving behavior – complete with limiting distractions – it’s also about putting in the time to ride with them and show them how to react to certain roadway hazards. Teaching them about assured clear distances and defensive driving tactics are also important.

It’s about ensuring that not only does your teen adhere to Connecticut’s graduated driver’s license laws, but that you set your own parameters. As it stands, for the first six months that one has a restricted license, the teen may have no passengers aside from a parent or driving instructor. In the six months after that, the same applies, except that the teen may drive younger individuals if they are members of his or her immediate family.

Contact the Law Offices of Salomone & Morelli by calling  1-800-WIN-WIN-1 or visiting 100 Farmington Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105.

Nearly three years ago, tragedy struck for the family of a 27-year-old immigrant, working on a renovation project on a $1.14 million home in Greenwich.

Our Connecticut wrongful death lawyers understand that the worker was powerwashing the foundation of the couple’s home when part of the porch foundation broke away from the primary structure, which collapsed the trench in which he was standing. He was buried alive.

Dozens of emergency workers frantically tried to save him by rushing to lift the slab off of him. Sadly, it was too late. A coroner determined he died of head injuries.

The lawsuit filed by the worker’s family alleges negligence by the homeowners and the construction and landscaping companies, as well as recklessness against the latter two entities. During the course of his work, the lawsuit states, the worker was given neither a ladder nor a helmet. Additionally, the trench in which he stood was not properly shored according to federal safety guidelines.

The family says that the landscaping and construction firms failed in their duties with regard to providing a competent person to inspect the ongoing excavation and also to maintain safe conditions inside that trench. The homeowners are also accused of not maintaining all the proper documentation with the town in regard to the full scope of the renovation work being conducted on their home.

The lawsuit seeks redress for the fear and harm that the worker endured, as well as the medical bills and other expenses that his family was forced to shoulder in the wake of his passing.

Fire officials at the scene reportedly told local news reporters at the time of the incident that it could have been avoided simply by ensuring proper trench shoring methods. In fact, just to extract the worker’s body safely from the site, responders needed to install wooden planks to hold the walls of the trench upright.

The U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration had been called in to investigate. Among the violations were failure to provide proper head protection for workers in the trenches and a failure to properly secure the excavation project.

Some of the actions OSHA requires of construction workers during trenching and excavation work are:

• A competent person has to inspect the excavation site and adjacent areas every day before the work begins, as needed throughout the shift and after every rain;
• Subcontractors must be notified of the trench location, precautions and the proper safe distance;
• Ladders and other means of egress are required.

Initially, OSHA fined the construction company $17,000 for violation of five different safety hazards. However, that fine was later reduced in half as a result of a settlement agreement.

An OSHA representative stated the agency “tries to work with” smaller companies, particularly given the tough economy. But an $8,700 fine does not seem to be much of a deterrent, and it does absolutely nothing for this worker’s family.

Contact the Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone & Morelli by calling  1-800-WIN-WIN-1. The Hartford office is located at 100 Farmington Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105.

The federal government provides funding to states for highway safety projects, including road improvement, bridge construction and public education. This federal funding, however, does not come without some strings attached. One of the things that states must do is comply with federal mandates intended to curb the number of drunk drivers.

Recently, however, an article in USA Today indicated that as many as two-thirds of states are not living up to their end of the deal as far as taking steps to combat drunk driving. These states could have some of their federal funds directed toward either anti-drunk driving programs or targeted highway safety improvement efforts. Our Hartford, CT accident attorneys were disheartened to see that Connecticut made the list of states that are not in compliance with federal requirements.

Connecticut Not Complying with Federal Drunk Driving Safety Requirements

According to the USA Today article, Congress updated the requirements last year that states must comply with in order to meet federal standards on efforts to combat drunk driving. The chief operating officer of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials also indicates that the federal government has now tightened the way in which requirements are applied, making it more difficult for states to fulfill their obligations.

Some of the different laws that the federal government looks at include state open container laws and laws on repeat offenders, both of which are important laws intended to curb drunk driving and to make sure that offenders face sufficient penalties to act as a strong deterrent for drunk driving.

When a state fails to comply, a certain amount of federal funds must be redirected toward drunk-driving efforts. For Connecticut, USA Today reports that the amount of money that must be diverted is $10.15 million. This is money that could otherwise have gone to general road or bridge construction but that now must be diverted as a result of the state’s lax drunk driving laws, which the federal government contends do not measure up.

Despite the federal government’s effort to force states to take further steps to combat drunk driving, USA Today also indicates that some locations are looking for a back door in order to put the money back to use for general construction projects. The vice president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, for example, indicates that it’s too easy for states to shift the restricted funds back into general construction work.

Some states may take advantage of this loophole, especially as there are certain locations that expressed anger to USA Today that their laws previously passed muster with NHTSA but are now being declared inadequate. Connecticut, however, was not one of the states that indicated displeasure within the article. The hope, therefore, is that Connecticut will tighten up its drunk driving laws to comply with federal standards and that it will put the restricted federal money to good use to improve highway safety and discourage intoxicated drivers from taking to the road.

If you’ve been in an accident, contact the Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone & Morelli, at 1-800-WIN-WIN-1.

Drivers are expected to obey all driver safety laws and also to be reasonably prudent when they get in their car and operate their vehicles. Many drivers try to live up to this expectation, recognizing that driving is a privilege and that bad drivers are dangerous. However, a surprising number of drivers regularly engage in driving behavior that they know to be risky.

A recent 2012 Traffic Safety Culture Index released by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety revealed just how many drivers aren’t practicing what they preach when it comes to driver safety. Our New Haven, CT personal injury lawyers were distressed to read of the findings on this recent survey, and we urge all drivers to carefully consider their own behavior to make sure that they are living up to reasonable driver safety standards and steering clear of risky behavior.

Drivers Answer on Safety Standards and Driver Behavior

The AAA survey asked drivers about their opinions on certain dangerous driving behaviors. The survey also asked drivers what they actually do when they are behind the wheel. As the results showed, many drivers think that certain driving actions are dangerous but still do those very same actions. For example:

• Drunk driving was viewed as very dangerous, and 80.5 percent of survey respondents supported requiring an ignition interlock device for all first time DUI offenders. Yet, 14 percent of drivers said they’d driven when they may have been drunk at least once in their lives and 2.1 percent said they’d done so in just the past month.
• Texting and driving was viewed as very dangerous, with most drivers considering the behavior completely unacceptable. Yet, 26.6 percent said that they’d texted or used a wireless handheld device to send an email while driving in the past month alone.
• Talking on a cell and driving was also viewed as risky. Almost half of drivers wanted to ban the practice outright, regardless of whether the talker used a hands free device. Yet, more than out of every three drivers said they’d talked on their phones in the past month while driving.
• Almost three-quarters of drivers expressed disapproval for going 15 miles per hour over the speed limit on a highway. Yet, 49.3 percent said they’d gone at least that fast in the past month.
• 89.1 percent of drivers felt it was dangerous and unacceptable to exceed the speed limit by 10 miles per hour or more in a residential area. However, 46.8 percent said they’d gone at least that fast in a residential area in the past month.
• 38.4 percent said they’d gone through a red light although the vast majority of drivers said this behavior was dangerous and unacceptable.
• Drowsy driving was almost universally viewed as bad news, but one-third of drivers said they’d had some trouble keeping their eyes open as they drove in the past month and 45.9 percent said that they had fallen asleep behind the wheel one or more times in their lives.

Clearly, therefore, drivers have certain standards and beliefs about what is unacceptable and dangerous when it comes to driving, and yet many drivers are not living up to their own standards. This is a dangerous disconnect, and we urge all drivers to start doing what they know is right behind the wheel.

If you’ve been in an auto accident, contact the Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone & Morelli at 1-800-WIN-WIN-1.

As anyone living in Connecticut knows, recent snow storms have made for some very nasty winter weather. In fact, the early February blizzard of 2013 was so bad that news reports indicated President Obama signed an emergency declaration for the state. Drivers were still digging out days later and were advised to stay at home and off the roads until the snow could be cleared.

While this blizzard, dubbed Nemo, hopefully will be the worst of the winter, our Hartford, CT personal injury lawyers want to remind drivers that this likely won’t be the last our state sees of snow or bad weather this season. As such, we urge all drivers to be prepared, practice their safe winter driving and follow some basic safety tips to avoid auto accidents caused by storms, snow and ice.

Staying Safe in Winter Weather

When a storm like Nemo comes along, the best and only way to stay safe is to stay home and off the roads. The most important safe winter weather tip, therefore, is to make absolutely sure that you listen to winter storm advisories and winter weather warnings. If there is a driving ban in effect or if the news is reporting that a blizzard is coming, don’t get in your car and drive anywhere unless it is an emergency. Instead, stay at home, make sure you have candles. Plan for a power outage and stock up on supplies.

When the weather is just run-of-the-mill winter weather, however, you may need to venture out with snow and ice on the roads. If you do, keep these tips in mind:

• Leave early for your destination so you will have plenty of time to get there without speeding. You never want to speed with slick or icy conditions as you could lose control of your vehicle, skid or spin out. In fact, in many cases you will want to drive below the speed limit when it is bad out.
• Refrain from tailgating. You want to leave a lot of space in between your vehicle and the other cars on the road. This is because ice can make it harder for your vehicle to stop. When you do need to stop with icy conditions, you need to  step on your brakes softly so you don’t skid.
• Have all parts of your car carefully checked over, including the windshield wipers and tires, and make sure that your car has enough fluids. Good tires are essential to good traction on slick winter roads and good wipers will help to ensure that you can see even when visibility is bad.
• Consider practicing winter driving in an empty parking lot. If you aren’t sure what to do when your car skids or spins out, you don’t want to find out on a highway. Instead, take your vehicle to an empty lot with someone who knows how to drive safely in snow and get plenty of practice.

By following these safe winter driving tips, you can hopefully avoid becoming involved in an auto accident and you can make it through the winter safe and sound.

If you’ve been in an auto accident, contact the Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone & Morelli at 1-800-WIN-WIN-1.