As high school graduation ceremonies around the state come to a close, graduation party season begins. Celebrating the achievements of our high school grads this summer with alcohol is a common practice, but parents should beware. Allowing your underage drinkers to consume alcohol in your home is illegal in Connecticut. Here’s what parents need to know before handing their teen a beverage this summer.

Connecticut Underage Drinking and Social Hosting Laws

Drinking laws in Connecticut can give parents the wrong idea when it comes to underage drinking. According to the Connecticut Underage Liquor/Drinking Laws, it is illegal for minors under the age of 21 to purchase or possess alcohol aside from four exceptions:

  1. They are 18 and work for a liquor permit holder.
  2. They are ordered by a physician.
  3. They are drinking for religious purposes.
  4. They are accompanied by a parent, guardian, or spouse over 21.

When it comes to graduation parties, a parent may supply their own child with an alcoholic beverage. However, the law does not protect parents who serve other underage drinkers on their property, even if it was your teen who did the serving.

According to the Connecticut Social Host Law: “No person having possession of, or exercising dominion and control over, any dwelling unit or private property shall 1) knowingly, recklessly, or with criminal negligence, permit any minor to possess alcoholic liquor or 2)knowing that any minor possesses alcoholic liquor fails to make reasonable efforts to halt such possession.

There are two ways parents can be held liable for underage drinking in Connecticut:

The Dangers of Underage Drinking

Aside from the legal repercussions for permitting underage drinking, parents who allow their kids to consume alcohol are putting their health at risk. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C.)reports drinking before the age of 21 is significantly linked with the following outcomes:

The Myth About Alcohol Exposure

Many parents who allow their teens to drink at home believe they are positively exposing them to alcohol. However, health experts have proven this theory to be incorrect.

A study posted in The Lancet in 2018 found that teens who drink at home are just as likely to become dependent on alcohol or suffer alcohol-related harm(s) as teen drinkers to drink elsewhere. The study followed more than 1,000 underage drinkers in Australia and found those with parents who prohibited underage drinking in the home were the only individuals with a lower risk of alcohol-related issues. Any teen allowed to consume alcohol at their residence, even if only a few sips here and there, showed higher rates of alcoholism, binge drinking, and poor decision making when it came to responsible drinking.

Drinking Laws Work

Drinking laws were created in our country for a reason. Alcohol is harmful to the teenage brain, and early exposure can set your teen up for disaster.

According to the C.D.C., the national drinking age of 21 was adopted nationwide after the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984. Studies showed significant safety and health benefits from adopting the legal drinking age of 21, including:

Allowing your teen to consume alcohol immediately puts their health and safety at risk. High school graduates about to embark on their first year of college significantly decrease their chances of academic success by consuming alcohol. Educating your teens on the risks of alcohol and helping them make positive decisions about underage drinking is critical to protecting them from alcohol-related harm.

How Talk To Protect Your Teen

Parents are allowed to supply their children with alcoholic beverages in private residences, but it’s still not a good idea. To help protect your teen from alcohol-related harm this summer, here some steps parents can take to reduce their risk:

Graduation parties are for celebrating high school graduates, not for drinking. Consider hosting a dry graduation party for your teen to show how sobriety can be fun and seek support from your family and friends to spread the word. Congratulations to all Connecticut graduates- have fun and stay safe this summer!

There is approximately one dog bite per every 75 seconds in the United States. At least 4.7 million dog bites occur annually nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C.). Of these attacks, over 800,000 people required medical care for their injuries, and an estimated 40 people died from these tragic accidents.

Not every dog you see in the community is safe or fit to be around others. Now that summer break is almost here, Connecticut should be alert to unfamiliar dogs roaming the neighborhood when children are outdoors. Knowing which dogs to be cautious around and how to react in the case of a dog attack could save your life and protect your children from severe or permanent harm.

The Most Deadly Breeds

Dog advocates will tell you until they are blue in the face that a dog’s environment is what shapes aggressive behaviors, not the breed. Although these beliefs may be true, statistics continue to show that certain breeds are more likely to initiate unprovoked attacks, and parents cannot take a chance if one of these dogs approaches their family.

According to DogsBite.org, a national dog bite victim’s group dedicated to reducing serious dog attacks, 471 Americans were killed by dogs between 2005 to 2018. These were determined to be the seven deadliest breeds within the 14-year period examined:

The remainder of the 471 fatal dog attacks were carried out by a combination of 35 dog breeds, each with fewer than nine attacks. Pit bulls were unsurprisingly at the top of the list for deadly attacks. Despite the efforts to show that pit bulls are a product of decades of abuse and neglect, this breed continues to kill more people every year than any other type of dog. This breed has the highest number of fatal and unprovoked attacks, particularly when it comes to attacking their owners and family members.

Health Consequences of Dog Bites

Dog bites can cause permanent and debilitating injuries that can be costly for victims to treat. Over 1,000 Americans seek emergency medical treatment for dog bites every day. DogsBite.org reports the average cost of a dog bite-related hospital stay is 50 percent higher than the average injury-related stay, around $18, 200.

Types of injuries that can be sustained after a dog attack include:

Nearly one out of every five dog bites becomes infected, some with life-threatening diseases. Tetanus, MRSA, rabies, Pasteurella, capnocytophaga are all common infections victims can contract. If infections are not treated promptly, secondary health conditions can cause significant damage to a person’s body.

Children are most at risk for dog bites due to their innocence and size. Particularly for families who have dogs at home, children can be over friendly with strange dogs that put these animals in defensive and attack mode. Children are also less likely to be able to fight off larger breeds or to remember safety measures to use during an attack.

What’s The Law

In Connecticut, there are several laws dog owners must follow to maintain ownership of their pets. These are the laws residents should be familiar with:

Leash Laws

Dogs do not have to be on a leash at all times, but they are not allowed to roam free. A dog owner may not allow a dog to roam on someone else’s land, a public highway, sidewalks, or state parks. Local governments can also create their own leash ordinances that best fit for their community’s needs

Dog Bite Law

Connecticut’s dog bite statute (CGS § 22-357) holds owners and keepers of dogs fully liable for any damages caused by the animal to someone else’s person or property. These laws are strict when it comes to protecting the public, and do not require the victim of a dog attack to prove that the owner or keeper 1) knew the dog was dangerous or 2) was otherwise negligent. Dog owners and keepers are not the only individuals who can be sued for dog bite injuries. The Connecticut Supreme Court recently ruled that landlords who knowingly allow a vicious dog to live on their property, and who do not take active steps to remove the animal, can be liable for any injuries the dog causes to tenants or individuals on the premise.

Quarantine

If a dog in Connecticut bites a person, the laws require the dog to be held in quarantine for 14 days in a public pound, veterinary hospital, kennel, or other approved facility. The dog is checked for rabies and examined during the 14 days to asses its demeanor and risk to others if allowed to return home.

Disposition

If the injuries or aggressive behaviors of a dog are severe enough, an animal control officer (A.C.O.) or the Department of Agriculture commissioner can order the dog to be put down. The victim of the attack must be notified within 24-hours of the decision.

Multiple Dog Attack

Some neighbors allow their dogs to run around with each other in the community and play unsupervised. Pack dog attacks are increasing in popularity and can be utterly terrifying for victims who are alone or with children. In the case of an attack by two or more dogs who have different owners, all owners are responsible for the entire amount of the damages suffered by the victim, not just the portion their dog was responsible for.

As soon as an accident occurs, victims should report the incident with visible evidence of an attack to the state, town, or regional A.C.O. where the dog is owned or kept. Not all victims of dog attack receive the same benefits as others. Any victims over the age of seven who are trespassing on the property, or guilty of teasing, abusing, or tormenting the dog that attacked them cannot file a liability claim against the dog owner- for obvious reasons.

What To Do When An Unfamiliar Dog Approaches

How you react in the first few minutes of a dog attack can greatly decrease the severity of your injuries or the possibility of an attack. The C.D.C. encourages individuals who believe they could be attacked by a strange dog to do the following:

Stay Safe Around Dogs

The best way to prevent injuries during a dog attack is to avoid these dangerous situations altogether. DogsBite.org encourages Connecticut residents to avoid the following behaviors to reduce the chance of an attack:

Teach your children at an early age to be cautious of all dogs, even family pets. Family pets inflict over 53 percent of dog bites in the United States. Remember that any dog can be unpredictable. For more information on how to keep your family safe around dangerous dogs this summer, click here for resources and safety steps.

Connecticut Personal Injury Attorneys

Residents of Connecticut have the right to enjoy their community without fear of being attacked by a dangerous pet. If you or a loved one has sustained a dog bite-related injury, Jacobs & Wallace is here to fight for your rights. Contact us today for a free consultation to review your case and your options for seeking justice.

June is National Safety Month and the perfect time to focus on protecting your family from preventable harm. With summer activities just around the corner, injuries will be on the rise. While some injuries may only result in bumps and bruises, others can have life-threatening consequences when the safety of others is neglected. Connecticut families can stay ahead of the most common safety hazards this season by knowing the facts and prevention techniques to avoiding fatal accidents this year.

Accidental Injuries-Third Leading Cause of Death

Accidents happen every day. Unfortunately, some are far worse than others. Over 400 Americans die every day from preventable injuries. In January of 2018, the National Safety Council (N.S.C.) released a shocking report identifying preventable injuries as the new third leading cause of death in our country. From 2015 to 2016, unintentional deaths rose a terrifying 10 percent, resulting in 14,803 more lives lost in just one year.

Connecticut Fatal Injury Facts

In 2017, there were 169,936 Americans who died from unintentional injuries- 2,078 of these fatalities were in Connecticut. These were the leading causes of death across all age groups:

Other causes of accidental death included poisoning and drownings. The highest age groups affected were individuals 65 and older with 670 preventable deaths and 25 to 34 with 343 preventable deaths.

Similar to the rest of the nation, fatal accidents have been on the rise in Connecticut. Since 2012, our state has seen a steady increase. In 2017, Connecticut saw 57.91 deaths for every 100,000 people in the state, surprisingly higher than all surrounding states: New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts.

National Safety Weeks

Observed annually in June, National Safety Month focuses on reducing the number of preventable injuries through education and awareness. For each week of National Safety Month, the N.S.C. will highlight a leading hazard to preventable injuries with recommendations on how to spot these around your community and how to prevent them from causing accidents:

Preventable accidents can happen anywhere: at home, work, on the road, or in the community. It’s essential for all Connecticut residents to stay alert to the most common hazards in each one of these environments to help reduce their chances of fatal injuries:

Home Safety

If you have children who will be home all summer, it is especially important to keep safety in mind around the house. Young children are at higher risks of poisoning, falls, choking, suffocation, and burn injuries when unsupervised. Keep all sharp items, medications, and small objects out of reach. Place safety gates and baby proofing locks where hazardous chemicals are kept children away.

If your family enjoys the pool, lake, or ocean, take extra precautions to keep your children safe. Know the hazards for each body of water your family plans to swim in this summer and ensure you have enough supervision for all the young children in your family to reduce the possibility of drowning. If you have a pool, install gates to keep young children from wandering into the pool unsupervised.

Severe storms and natural disasters can also put your family at serious risk this summer. Consider creating an emergency plan for your family to follow and keep provisions in a safe place if a natural disaster prevents you from leaving your home.

Work Safety

Over 4,414 workers died in 2017 from preventable work injuries. Training and organization are two of the most effective methods for preventing injuries in the workplace. By focusing on these areas, employers can help keep workers safe and alert:

Help your workers keep each other accountable for workplace safety by taking the SafeAtWork Pledge to save lives on the job!

Road Safety

In 2017, more than 40,000 people died in motor vehicle accidents. Educate the drivers in your family on the three leading causes of vehicle accidents and how they can prevent them by driving safe:

Teens are more susceptible to all three leading causes of fatal road accidents than any other age group. Educate your teens on road safety and ensure they are practicing safe driving habits. If your teen refuses to drive safe, make sure they do not drive.

Community Safety

All residents are responsible for helping to keep their communities safe, not just law enforcement. Connecticut residents can help reduce accidents in their neighborhood by removing clutter from sidewalks, checking in on neighbors, driving safe, reporting suspicious behavior, keeping public spaces clean, and spreading awareness. The more involved you become in reducing preventable accidents in your community, the more support you will gain in your cause.

Get Involved

There are plenty of ways Connecticut residents can get involved with National Safety Month by merely sharing the message and spreading information. If you would like to get involved this summer, here are a few ways to participate:

Connecticut Personal Injury and Accident Attorneys

If you or a loved has been injured in an accident due to the negligent acts of someone else, you may be eligible to receive compensation for any damages suffered. Contact our expert team of personal injury attorneys at Jacobs & Wallace for a free consultation to explore your options.

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