There is nothing like that sinking feeling when you are driving along and suddenly the car lurches to one side and you hear that horrid noise made only by a flat tire.

Although many drivers have roadside assistance who will come and fix it, if you cannot contact them it is smart to know how to change a flat yourself and almost everyone can do it.

Firstly pull over into a safe place and if your car is a manual transmission then leave it in gear. Make sure you set the parking brake. Next, turn on your hazard warning lights then get the tools you need out of your car; the jack, wrench and spare tire.

Use the wrench to loosen the lug nuts but just loosen them, don’t take them off. Then check your owner’s manual as to where to place the jack and use it to lift the vehicle up until the tire is around six inches off  the ground.

Now remove the lug nuts, put them in a safe place, and pull the tire off. Next, put the spare on the car and put the lug nuts back on, but not too tightly. Lower the car back down and remove the jack.  Now you can tighten the lug nuts, but tighten each one a little and then move onto the next, tightening each one several times until they are all done.

Put your flat and tools back in the car and you are set to go.

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

According to police a motor vehicle accident killed a Connecticut Army National Guard soldier and injured another on I-95 in Rye, N.Y.

The 21/2-ton Army National Guard truck was southbound on the I-95 in Westchester County when it crashed with a civilian vehicle, driven by Odson Meritle, 40, of Stamford, near Exit 21 at 10:22 a.m.

A National Guard spokesman said that Staff Sgt. Ronald Patterson Jr., of Bridgeport, was killed in the crash and Sgt. 1st class Kayla Anne Downey, of Shelton, was taken to a hospital for treatment where she was in critical condition but is now improving.

Meritle was taken to a local hospital and her injuries are said not to be life threatening.

The two soldiers were traveling in a Light Medium Tactical Vehicle, known as a LMTV, and were transporting spent ammunition from a recent training exercise to Fort Dix, N.J.

According to New York State Police the accident is still under investigation and so far no charges have been filed.

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

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, almost 11 times every day there is a fatal truck accident, which kill nearly 4,000 people each year.

In addition, more than 100,000 people are injured every year in truck crashes. That is the same as if a commuter jet crashed every single week of the year, killing everyone on board. And the numbers have worsened: Truck-crash fatalities have increased since 2009, as more goods are shipped on American highways and the trucking companies and drivers are under pressure to get the loads delivered on time.

In any other industry, thousands of deaths a year would generate a national outcry. But because trucking deaths are scattered in small numbers across the country, they don’t often get coverage in the national news. And as trucking is the backbone of a struggling U.S. economy, both government and industry are wary of putting too many restrictions in place that could harm the country’s ability to do business.

Regulators, industry, lawyers and victims reveal a mix of causes for the deaths. The reasons why are as varied as overly tired drivers, companies that don’t screen for problem drivers and government that is slow to force new safety technologies on to American roads. Some industry associations even passenger vehicles weaving dangerously in and out of the way of heavier, slower-reacting trucks.

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

Counselors are going to be made available for students following the death of a 7th grader in Suffield on Thursday afternoon.

According to police, a boy, identified as Francis Anthony Alamo, 7^th grader at Suffield Middle School, died after being struck by a box truck while he was on his bicycle with a group of children near the school.

He was rushed to an area hospital but he died shortly afterwards.

The driver of the vehicle stayed on scene, and so far no charges have been filed. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Mountain Road was closed in the area around the crash for more than four hours while the accident investigation team processed the scene but it is a busy street so detours were set up.

Many people in the area said that drivers break the speed limit on the road, and that children need to be really careful when they are riding their bikes

Suffield Superintendent of Schools Karen Baldwin, lamented the loss of Anthony, who she described as full of energy and enthusiasm, and said that there will be counselors available at the school for the pupils.

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

Thousands of people are involved in vehicle accidents every year, but there are three main injuries which are the most common.

Top of the list is neck strain which is also known as whiplash.  This normally occurs when the vehicle is rear ended as the driver’s head snap forward and then back again. The injury is often no more than an ache for a few days or weeks but if serious and not treated, it can cause chronic pain and joint dysfunction.

Back injury is next on the list as the back needs only a small impact or trauma to be affected. It can be a soft tissue injury to the muscles or the spine itself can be affected with broken vertebrae, nerve or muscular damage or herniated discs.

Finally there are head injuries which are caused as it is tossed around the vehicle on impact.  There may be only bruising or small lacerations but a more severe injury is a Traumatic Brain Injury or a TBI which can cause memory loss, functional deficits, headaches, dizziness or loss of consciousness.

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

According to Aaron Swanson at the Connecticut Department of Transportation, driving whilst using a cell phone is one of the key factors which result in vehicle crashes.

Connecticut law states that it is illegal to use a hand held cell phone whilst driving and is also illegal to text even when the vehicle is stationary.

However, accident data from 2012, shows that distracted driving was a contributing factor for drivers in fatal accidents in 3.6 percent of crashes.

So recently the police have been cracking down on drivers and one in 77 drivers in Connecticut in 2013 was given a ticket for a cell phone violation. In total 32,000 tickets were issued which delivered more than $2 million in fines to the state with the fines ranging from $150 to $500.

Swanson, said that while the DOT never interferes with police officer discretion whether to issue or ticket or simply give a warning, research has shown that tickets or fines do change the behavior of drivers.

He said that everyone agrees the use of cell phones while driving is dangerous and they are doing all they can to change behavior, by using strict enforcement measures.

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