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How to Deal with Roadside Emergencies

Roadside emergencies happen to everyone whether a car is new or old.

The most important thing if you experience a roadside emergency, be it mechanical failure or a tire failure or even running out of gas, is to stay safe and deal with the emergency so that you can get back on the road as soon as possible.

There are several items you should have in your car which will help you to deal with any emergency and also to stay safe.

One of the most important things to do, is to warn other vehicles if yours is stopped on the side of the road. For this purpose you should carry a battery powered warning light and also a reflective hazard triangle. If you are used to driving in remote areas, flares can also be effective.

Make sure that you have a jack and a lug wrench in the vehicle along with a spare tire which is in good condition and fully inflated. Also ensure that you know how to use them. You can also buy a can of tire sealant which will save you having to change the tire and allow you to drive to the nearest garage. Do be aware that several tire shops will not repair a tire which has been sealed as they leave a sticky residue. Also remember this is not a permanent fix so the tire should be repaired or replaced as soon as possible. You can also buy a portable air compressor which can be used to inflate a tire which has a slow leak.

If you have suffered serious injuries as a result of an auto accident, please call our Connecticut I-95 accident attorneys at Hastings, Cohan, and Walsh, LLP, at (888) 244-5480 or contact us online today.

Two Women Died in Three Vehicle Collision

Early on Monday morning, January 11, two women died in a three vehicle collision on Interstate 95 North in East Lyme.

According to state police the accident happened shortly before 4.30 a.m. near exit 72 on the northbound side of I 95. Katerina Barret, aged 28, of Greenville, South Carolina was driving one car and she hit the side of a Mato Equipment Leasing tractor-trailer as she was passing it in the left lane. She then veered left and hit the median barrier, came back onto the roadway and hit the passenger side of another vehicle being driven by 72 year old Kenneth Graves of Providence, Rhode Island.

Barrett was thrown from her car and the other car ended up on the right shoulder. Barret was taken to Lawrence and Memorial Hospital where she died and a passenger in the other vehicle, 69 year old Marie L. Graves also of Providence was pronounced dead at the scene. The tractor trailer driver, 27 year old Bekzhan Turumkulov of Chicago, Illinois was uninjured. Kenneth Graves received minor injuries.

If you have suffered serious injuries as a result of an auto accident, please call our Connecticut I-95 accident attorneys at Hastings, Cohan, and Walsh, LLP, at (888) 244-5480 or contact us online today.

How to take Medications Safely

Millions of Americans rely on prescription and over-the-counter medicines to sustain health, with over four billion prescriptions written every year, but did you know that over 60% of people misunderstand the instructions on how to take their medications safely.

Twenty to 50% of American people do not take their medication as prescribed – don’t be one of those statistics. If you have trouble remembering the dosage and time you should take your medication, keep a list with the medicine’s name, dose and what time you should take it. It is usually recommended that medicines are taken with water and some are taken before, after and with food, so make sure that you know the recommended way to safely take you medication as this can affect the absorption rate.

Fifty percent of all hospital medication errors happen because patients have not told their doctors about other medication they are taking, suffering unnecessary reactions and complications. If you regularly take medicines in addition to any prescription medicine make sure you family are aware so that in the event of any emergency this information can be shared with health professionals.

Because drugs we takes for aches and pains, colds and flu are so widely available we are lulled into a false sense of security, but that fact is that these can be dangerous when mixed with other medications. If you are in doubt as to the safety of any medication you are taking, there are over 290,000 pharmacists in the U.S. trained to help you with and that is a valuable resource that should not be wasted.

If you have suffered serious injuries as a result of an auto accident, please call our Connecticut I-95 accident attorneys at Hastings, Cohan, and Walsh, LLP, at (888) 244-5480 or contact us online today.

Three Injured In Police Chase On I95

On the morning of November 5, two police officers and one other person were injured during a police chase which resulted in a crash on the I95 exit 30 off ramp.

Police were responding to a complaint that a grey Lincoln Sedan, driven by Bryce Laister of Fairfield, had struck a parked vehicle and telephone pole and was driving erratically in Boston Avenue and St. Michaels Avenue. Officers attempted to stop the driver whose vehicle had a blown out tire, but he swerved on to Surf Avenue into the opposite lane towards oncoming vehicles. A trash truck was unable to avoid Laister and collided with the police vehicle with the force of the crash causing the trash truck, which was filled with garbage, to tip on to its side. Two police officers and one occupant of the trash truck were taken to Bridgeport Hospital with minor injuries.

Laister attempted to flee the scene of the crash but was caught by a bystander. He was arrested and charged with a large number of motoring offences. He was also charged with evading responsibility and reckless driving, but was later released on $10,000 bond.

If you have suffered serious injuries as a result of an auto accident, please call our Connecticut I-95 accident attorneys at Hastings, Cohan, and Walsh, LLP, at (888) 244-5480 or contact us online today.

New Technology to Prevent Jackknifing

The problem of jackknifing has plagued tractor trailer drivers for years but now there is more and more technology available which can help the problem.

One new feature is adding anti lock brakes onto either or both of the tractor or trailer as it can be locking wheels which cause the rig to jackknife. The vehicles have sensors fitted which can tell when there is heavy braking and if the wheels are about to lock the sensor will then decrease the braking on that particular wheel. It has the advantage that the braking is still happening and the truck is slowing down but just not so much that the wheel locks up. This is one of the most important additions to a large rig to stop it jackknifing.

In addition, sensors can be fitted to reduce the brake pressure sent to the wheel depending on the weight of the trailer as empty trailers have less traction with the road and are thus more likely to jackknife.

Another type of technology is to add something to the coupling between the tractor and the trailer so that they physically cannot jackknife. This is called the fifth wheel but it does have the problem of limiting the flexibility of the rig when it comes to making a sharp turn. To avoid this problem a device can be fitted to engage and disengage the fifth wheel when needed so that the driver can disengage it when he or she has to make a sharp turn.

If you have suffered serious injuries as a result of an auto accident, please call our Connecticut I-95 accident attorneys at Hastings, Cohan, and Walsh, LLP, at (888) 244-5480 or contact us online today.

Bridgeport Man was Arrested after Crash

Early on Saturday morning, August 29, a Bridgeport man was arrested after crashing a minivan in a construction zone on the I 95.

According to Norwalk Police, the incident happened at around 2 a.m. They were chasing 35 year old Marino De Los Santos in a minivan as an officer had noticed a minor equipment violation when the minivan was traveling northbound on West Avenue. The officer attempted to check the registration plate and when he discovered it was stolen he pursued the vehicle onto the I 95 southbound. The officer called off the pursuit when he noticed a construction zone ahead but the minivan continued at speed and lost control in the construction zone near exit 11 which is just before the Darien border. The minivan crashed into a guard rail and a construction truck before coming to a halt. Two construction workers were injured and the force of the impact ejected one of the female passengers from the minivan who was seriously injured.

De Los Santos, two female passengers and the two construction workers were taken by ambulance to hospitals in Norwalk and Stamford.

De Los Santos was arrested and admitted he had been drinking and he did not have a driving license.

He was charged with driving under the influence, four counts of assault in the second-degree with a motor vehicle, reckless operation, engaging in pursuit, possession of stolen registration plate, misuse of plates, operating a motor vehicle without a license, failure to carry an insurance card and failure to have tail lamps.

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If you have suffered serious injuries as a result of an auto accident, please call our Connecticut I-95 accident attorneys at Hastings, Cohan, and Walsh, LLP, at (888) 244-5480 or contact us online today.

Two People Killed in Eight Vehicle Collision

On Saturday, August 15, two people were killed in an eight vehicle collision on the Interstate 95 in Old Lyme.

According to police the fatal crash happened at around 6 a.m. on the northbound side at Exit 70 near Baldwin Bridge.

The initial crash happened at 4.30 a.m. on the southbound side when a truck being driven by 62 year old Arturo Paez of Stratford went off the road, struck a bridge support and burst into flames. Paez was taken to Yale New Haven hospital by helicopter.

The second accident, on the northbound side, happened when people were slowing and looking at the first accident and involved five cars and two tractor trailers. Several people were injured and two people were killed. Those killed were 61 year old Hilda Thomas of Maryland and 38 year old Stacy Lockhart of Alabama who were in a vehicle being driven by 56 year old Debra Taliaferroholmes of Manalapan, New Jersey. She suffered serious injuries.

Both sides of the highway were then closed while the wreckage was cleared and the accident investigated.

If you have suffered serious injuries as a result of an auto accident, please call our Connecticut I-95 accident attorneys at Hastings, Cohan, and Walsh, LLP, at (888) 244-5480 or contact us online today.

Father and Son Were Killed on the Interstate

On Monday evening, July 27, a father and son were killed in a tractor trailer crash on the I 95 in Stonington.

According to police, the accident happened on the Interstate 95 beetween between exits 91 and 90. Sergio Amilear Castellon, aged 31 and his 7 year old son Sergio Giovanny Castellon were in a truck travelling northbound with the boy in the sleeper section. The truck then it hit a guardrail and bridge abutment and caught fire. Witnesses also said that they heard explosions and there was a lot of smoke. Both father and son were pronounced dead at the scene.

There was debris across the highway after the accident and the I 95 in Stonington was closed in both directions until Tuesday morning.

Police said that the Castellon’s were from Council Bluffs, Iowa, and the accident is still being investigated.

If you have suffered serious injuries as a result of an auto accident, please call our Connecticut I-95 accident attorneys at Hastings, Cohan, and Walsh, LLP, at (888) 244-5480 or contact us online today.

Women Sent to Hospital After I 95 Crash

On Thursday, June 4, two women were sent to hospital with serious injuries following an accident on the Interstate 95.

According to state police, the two women exited their vehicle after it caught fire on the I 95 on the northbound side of the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge at around 10.15 p.m. They were standing behind their car in the right lane of the Interstate when an unidentified man stopped to help and parked his Ford truck behind them with his hazard flashers and he tried to put out the fire. Then a Subaru driven by 19 year old Jack Charles Tiernan, of Branford, who was also traveling north in the right lane crashed into the truck from behind and the impact pushed the truck into the woman and pinned them to a Jersey barrier.

New Haven firefighters had to extricate the women and they were conscious when transported to Yale – New Haven hospital with leg injuries. Tiernan also was taken to the same hospital with minor injuries and later discharged.

Police say he was issued an infraction for failure to drive in an established lane.

The women, who were a 27 year old from Kingston, Rhode Island and a 26 year old from Brattleboro, Vermont are both said to be in fair condition.

The crash remains under investigation.

If you have suffered serious injuries as a result of an auto accident, please call our Connecticut I-95 accident attorneys at Hastings, Cohan, and Walsh, LLP, at (888) 244-5480 or contact us online today.

Bridgeport Man was Killed on Interstate 95

On Tuesday, May 12, a Bridgeport man was killed in a two vehicle crash on Interstate 95.

According to police, the accident happened at around 3 a.m. between I 95’s northbound Exits 22 and 23.

A car being driven by 19 year old Amairani Cuevas of Nichols Avenue in Stratford veered into the center land and hit a car being driven by 56 year old Robin King of East Haven. Both cars lost control and King’s car stopped on the shoulder but Cuevas’ vehicle crashed into a guardrail and fell down an embankment.

Cuevas was taken to St. Vincent’s Medical Center with minor injuries but one of his passengers, 19 year old Kastiry Collazo, of Park Street in Bridgeport, was taken to Bridgeport Hospital for treatment of serious injuries. The other passenger, 20 year old Demonte Anozine of Ogden Street in Bridgeport was ejected from the vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene.

King suffered minor injuries and was taken to St. Vincent’s Medical Center.

If you have suffered serious injuries as a result of an auto accident, please call our Connecticut I-95 accident attorneys at Hastings, Cohan, and Walsh, LLP, at (888) 244-5480 or contact us online today.