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50 Founders Plaza
East Hartford, CT 06108
50 Founders Plaza
East Hartford, CT 06108
Driving under the influence (DUI) is illegal throughout the United States. Due to the potential consequences of drunk driving, DUI penalties generally tend to be serious, even for first time offenders. DUI arrests and convictions also tend to be very expensive in an effort to deter drivers from driving drunk or buzzed. Penalties for DUI often include high fines, and if the driver loses his or her license, it may affect employment opportunities or interfere with existing work responsibilities. A DUI conviction could also lead to higher insurance premiums.
Connecticut Law on Drunk Driving
The Connecticut law on drunk driving prohibits drivers from driving after drinking beyond a certain level, taking drugs, or after having used a combination of both drugs and alcohol. In addition, a person can be arrested for DUI if his or her blood alcohol content (BAC) is 0.08 or 0.04 for commercial drivers. Police officers use chemical and standard field sobriety tests to confirm the presence of drugs or alcohol, and to determine a driver’s level of intoxication.
When some people think about drug addicts, they often think of heroin or cocaine addicts. However, prescription drugs are responsible for a large number of overdoses, and have contributed to drug overdoses becoming one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. To help deal with the problem, federal law has been proposed to help monitor the issuance and filling of painkiller drugs that are likely to be abused. This law would also increase availability of potentially life saving drugs used by police officers and other first responders to reverse drug overdoses.
Connecticut Drug Laws
As with most other states, the sale or possession of prescription drugs without a prescription, and obtaining prescription drugs by fraud are both illegal acts in Connecticut. It is, of course, a defense to the possession charges if you have a valid prescription for the type and amount of prescription drugs in your possession. A prescription is defined as a written, oral or electronic order for any controlled substance from a licensed practitioner for a patient, to be presented to a pharmacist.
The Connecticut Department of Transportation Highway Safety Office (ConnDOT) has announced the kickoff of the state’s participation in the national “U Drive. U Text. U Pay” campaign. The 2014 National Distracted Driving Enforcement Campaign is being sponsored by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) and involves heavy media and public outreach, coupled with stringent anti-texting enforcement, to help get the word out about the dangers of driving and texting.
In Connecticut, it is against the law for a driver of any age to use a handheld mobile phone while driving. A driver can only use their phone if they have the device on speakerphone, using a Bluetooth wireless device, headset or using an installed hands-free car kit. Texting while driving is completely prohibited.
A recent report issued by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, one out of every five fatal vehicle crashes involves a driver who is unlicensed. The report, entitled Unlicensed to Kill, was written by researchers from the Texas Transportation Institute located at Texas A&M University. The team used data from Department of Transportation's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).
According to the report, 8,400 people die every year in accidents involving a driver who does not have a valid license. The study also found that 28 percent of those unlicensed drivers had received three or more license revocations or suspensions within the three years leading up to the fatal crash.
In a statement, lead researcher Lindsay I. Griffin pointed out the serious flaw in the current system. “It's like a revolving door. These people are being suspended and suspended and suspended again, and still, they're driving.”
Currently, there are no federal regulations that require tire salespeople to provide consumers with the actual age of the tires they may be purchasing. Tire purchasers may think they are buying brand new tires, but in reality, that tire may be a decade old.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a vehicle's tires that are six years or older run a greater risk of sudden “tread separation” where the tread of the tire comes apart from the casing or body of the tire. When the tread separates from the tire, the driver can lose control of the vehicle, resulting in dangerous, even deadly, vehicle crashes.
Even if an old tire has new and unused tread, there is still a high risk of tread separation the more the tire ages. That is why the NHTSA, as well as many vehicle and tire manufacturers, recommend that tires which are older than six years old not be used.
A recent study conducted by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and Students Against Destructive Behaviors (SADD) has found that while many parents lecture their children about the dangers of texting and driving or driving under the influence, they aren’t so quick to take their own advice.
Participants in the study included more than 2500 11th and 12th grade students from around the country, 1,000 parents of high school students and several focus groups from Dallas and Philadelphia.
The results of the surveys show that parents are often engaging in many of the dangerous driving habits they warn their teenagers about. Behaviors such as not using seat belts, reading and sending text messages while driving and driving after drinking alcohol are all behaviors that teens said their parents are engaging in while behind the wheel. And almost half of those teens surveyed said their parents continued those risky behaviors even after they asked their parents to stop.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced proposed regulation in an effort to help protect passengers riding in large commercial buses in the event of rollover crashes. The agency, a division of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), released a 111 page document which covers the new regulation and the reasons behind it.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx referred to the consequences of rollover bus crashes as “severe” and said the agency wants to reassure the public that they are always looking for way to improve passenger safety.
The regulation applies to the structural design of new buses that are manufactured, ensuring that in the event of a crash, passengers will remain safe because the space around them does not collapse. The regulation would also ensure emergency exits would still be usable after a crash impact.
Accidents happen every single day, and literally can happen to anyone. While the nature of an accident is its unpredictability, making it possible for one to occur at any time in many different ways, injuries due to slips and falls can cause a whole host of both medical and financial issues, leaving you with a heavy burden should the worst occur.
While a simple slip or fall may seem trivial at first glance, it can actually be a much larger problem than most would think. Although the elderly are certainly at a much more increased risk of major injuries in these cases, accidents are not only isolated to that demographic. The following slip and fall statistics can provide insight into how big the issue truly is:
Driving under the influence of alcohol or other mind or perception altering drugs has become an epidemic in this country and has a great impact on motor vehicle accidents as well as the injuries that can result. Although police officers have the ability to test on scene for alcohol, other drugs can be harder to detect. This is complicated by the issue of narcotic medication use and abuse, even when it is taken legally.
If you were involved in a motor vehicle accident with an intoxicated driver, nothing can excuse any behavior; however, understanding all the factors may allow us to prevent future incidents. In fact, studies have now shown that mental illness is a huge contributor to the DUI problem.
Almost 60 percent of all Driving While Intoxicated (DUI) repeat offenders suffer from one or more psychiatric illnesses.
While repeat DUI convictions can certainly land a person in jail in many states, perhaps the issue is not the result but the underlying cause instead. By jailing these offenders we are not making any progress for society; instead, we are often making a problem much worse. Should we screen these multiple offenders for mental illness and treat them accordingly, perhaps terrible accidents could be prevented.
Almost everyone has been impacted by a major accident or negligent action-whether directly or indirectly. Stories arise every day of car accidents, incidents of slips and falls, and even injuries due to oversight on property owned by others. The result is often large medical bills, loss of wages, as well as a physical, psychological, and emotional toll that can cause irreparable harm.
It is only natural for an accident victim to want-or need-to seek legal compensation for the pain, suffering, and financial hardship brought on by the occurrence. A personal injury attorney will assess your situation and help you move forward based on two universal principles in civil law. Every personal injury case involves the issues of both liability as well as damages.
The term liability in this context is the standard in civil lawsuits determining whether-and to what extent-the defendant is actually responsible for the incident. Generally, you must be able to prove that the accident occurred due to negligence, strict liability, or an intentional wrong to collect damages. Once your lawyer has established liability on the side of the defendant, it is important to be prepared for the next step.
50 Founders Plaza
