Connecticut saw one fatal accident this Memorial Day weekend, compared with four last year. That’s a positive change, but it does not take the pain away from the family that lost a loved one or those that were injured during one of the most accident-prone weekends of the year.
Between Friday and Monday, there were 279 motor vehicle accidents (up from 260 last year). At least 57 of those accidents caused injuries and one accident on Route 8 was fatal.
Stricter enforcement efforts that began this weekend and will continue throughout the summer led to multiple arrests for DWI, speeding and failure to wear a seatbelt. The numbers:
- 77 DWI arrests
- 816 arrests for failure to wear seatbelts
- 1,797 speeding arrests
Click It or Ticket Campaign
The Memorial Day weekend also marks the start of the statewide and nationwide Click It or Ticket Campaign. The campaign will include increased enforcement as well as seat belt and child safety seat checkpoints throughout the state. The goal is to increase road safety during the most dangerous driving months of the year.
According to the NHTSA, 3,341 people were killed in 2010 because they failed to buckle up. Simply wearing a seatbelt could have prevented the majority of ejections, for example. And since more than 75 percent of individuals ejected from their cars during motor vehicle accidents die, that means many lives could have been saved.
Were you injured?
If you were injured in a Memorial Day accident – even if your injuries were aggravated by failing to wear a seatbelt – you may be able to recover compensation for your injuries. This includes compensation for medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, and other economic and noneconomic injuries.
Source: Mansfield-Storrs Patch, “One fatal accident, 77 DWIs reported Memorial Day weekend in CT,” Jaimie Cura, May 29, 2012.