Jumping on a row of trampolines, bouncing against padded walls, and flipping into foam pits sounds like an exciting day at the trampoline park. But several Connecticut residents are anything but happy with their experience.
According to Channel 3 News, at least nine lawsuits have been filed claiming serious injuries after visiting one of the following trampoline parks in the state: The Sky Zone in Wallingford, Launch Trampoline Park in Hartford, and Flight Fit ’N Fun in New Britain. Injuries reported in the lawsuits included anything from broken bones to brain injuries. Some of the accident victims were so severely injured they required surgery to prevent the risk of permanent damage.
Trampoline parks are not only posing a risk to jumpers in Connecticut. Indoor trampoline injuries are skyrocketing across the country. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, trampoline park injuries increased from 2,500 in 2013 to 18,000 in 2017. Sadly, six deaths have also been reported related to injuries sustained at these trampoline facilities.
Families who are considering visiting a trampoline park in Connecticut should know the risks before they bounce. Not every trampoline park is up to code with safety regulations to protect visitors. Knowing the most common injuries and the red flags that highlight a dangerous facility can help you avoid life-threatening injuries and a trip to the emergency room.
When looking at the injury statistics of trampolines in general, it comes as no surprise that a building full of these hazardous jumping contraptions would result in thousands of injuries. Trampolines cause approximately 100,000 injuries every year. According to the Mayo Clinic, more than 1 million people were seen in emergency departments across the United States between 2002 and 2011 for trampoline-related injuries.
Trampolines are capable of causing catastrophic injuries to children and families that can result in life-altering consequences. Some of these injuries include:
At least 75 percent of trampoline injuries involve accidents where multiple children are jumping on the trampoline at the same time. This statistic is particularly important to remember when assessing injuries risks at trampoline parks, where multiple children are always jumping on one trampoline at the same time.
Adults are equally at risk for serious injuries at trampoline parks. According to U.S. News, 45 percent of fractures in adult patients occur at trampoline parks compared to 17 percent at home. Adult jumpers are also twice as likely to require surgery for trampoline-related injuries, sometimes even multiple procedures depending on the severity of the injury.
The sudden influx in trampoline parks across the country is one of the main contributors to the massive increase of trampoline-related injuries in the last few years. Some of these parks, popping up practically overnight, do not meet the safety standards necessary to prevent catastrophic injuries from occurring. These negligent facilities make serious errors putting visitors in danger, including:
Trampoline parks that do not always follow the safety guidelines and industry standards created to keep bouncers safe are putting visitors at unnecessary risk, regardless of how athletic you are.
In 2017, world-class gymnast Ric Swezey was visiting a trampoline park with his family in Virginia, according to CBS News. While jumping on a trampoline, Swezey stumbled and hit his head against a wall that was only lightly padded. Swezey cracked his C2 vertebra, constricting his airway and blood flow, resulting in him becoming paralyzed and 90 percent brain dead. He later died from the injuries sustained in this devastating and unnecessary accident.
Trampoline parks can be a fun family outing when facilities and families keep safety in mind. Before you start to jump, these are the safety recommendations highlighted by Jump Altitude you should be following to reduce injuries:
Remember, if you can’t jump safely, don’t jump at all. Have fun and jump safely Connecticut!
Trampoline parks have a duty to keep visitors safe. Neglecting safety standards puts others at risk of unnecessary and preventable accidents. If you or a loved one has sustained a trampoline park-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.
Car crashes are the number one cause of death for children in the United States. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C.), 675 children ages 12 and under were killed in car crashes in 2017. Sadly, at least 35 percent of these deaths could have been prevented if the children were buckled up at the time of the crash.
Securing your child in the proper child passenger safety seat is the easiest way to reduce their risk of injuries in an accident. To help spread awareness, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (N.H.T.S.A.) is sponsoring their annual Child Passenger Safety Week. From September 15 to September 21, 2019, the N.H.T.S.A. and partnering organizations will distribute resources, and host events aimed to keep kids safer on the road.
The safety campaign ends with National Seat Check Day on Saturday, September 21. By visiting a car seat check in your community this weekend, you can gain peace of mind that your child’s car seat is correctly installed and the best fit to keep your child safe if an accident were to occur.
Children cannot protect themselves in the car. It’s up to every Connecticut parent to know the dangers of not properly using car seats and to stay informed on how to best use these products to reduce their child’s risk of car accident injuries. To start, we’ve compiled a few of the best need-to-know safety tips parents can use when it comes to car seat safety.
Choosing a car seat is not as easy as it used to be. Recommendations for car seats are ever-changing as our understanding of vehicle safety continues to expand. Unfortunately, as fast as information is gained, it does not always reach parents and guardians as quickly.
So many parents still do not know which type of car seat is the best for their child. And with the designs becoming more complicated every year, many believe they are correctly installing these seats when they are not. Here are the most common mistakes parents make when it comes to choosing and installing a car seat that could lead to life-threatening injuries in an accident:
Safe Kids Connecticut reports only 1 in 5 car seats in the state is used properly. This includes choosing the right seat for your child from the start.
Mistakes parents often make when shopping for or choosing a car seat include:
When parents are shopping for a car seat, their child’s size is the number one factor determining which seat will provide optimal protection. Certain brands and styles are not right for every child. And not every car seat are capable of following a child as they continue to grow.
Parents who continue to use old or damaged car seats, or car seats that have been in an accident are also putting their child in danger. The parts and safety features on car seats can become stressed and weakened from the force of a car crash or years of wear-and-tear. This can cause a car seat to malfunction in an accident and leave your child vulnerable to injuries.
If you were to ask a dozen parents what the best position for a car seat was inside of their vehicle, you would most likely get several different (and possibly dangerous) answers.
One of the most common errors parents make when installing carseats is flipping their child around too soon. In Connecticut, it’s the law that children must ride rear-facing until they are at least two-years-old, if not longer. Some safety experts have even suggested moving the age to five, stating that children are far more safe in the case of an accident when facing backward in regards to impact injuries.
Other mistakes parents can make when placing a car seat in a vehicle include unnecessarily placing car seats by the passenger side doors. Safe Rides 4 Kids reports children are 43 percent safer when placed in the middle seat of a car. Passenger doors and windows increase a child’s risk for injuries if a car is struck on the side. The middle seat provides a lower risk for impact injuries, particularly in the case of direct collisions.
Car seats can save an average of 300 lives every year, but only when used correctly. The N.H.T.S.A. predicts at least 59 percent of car seats are installed improperly when placed in a vehicle. Some of the most common installation mistakes parents are making, highlighted by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, include:
–Failing The ‘Pinch Test’:The ‘pinch test’ involves the tightness of the harness once the child is buckled in. If you can pinch extra material when your child is in the seat, it is not tight enough.
Connecticut has specific laws regarding children in car seats that parents and guardians transporting children must follow to help keep children safe, including:
State laws are not enough to encourage parents to use proper safety precautions for their children in the car, and not due to lack of trying. Children are all different. Parents and guardians should be seeking additional resources specific to the size and capabilities of their child before they make any decisions pertaining to their car seats.
Car seats are expensive, and the price is one of the top reasons for why parents hold on to damaged and expired car seats. To help parents out, Walmart is offering its first-ever car seat trade-in incentive to encourage customers to recycle those old car seats to score a deal on a new one.
For all customers who turn in a used car seat from now until September 30, Walmart will award them a $30 gift card that can be used on any item in-store or online. The incentive is perfect to use on the next car seat you need for your little one. Here’s how to participate:
For more information on the trade-in program, view Walmart’s policies here.
In a 2016 study published by the Journal of Pediatrics, researchers found nearly 95 percent of parents are making at least one mistake when installing and securing car seats. There is no harm in getting your child’s car seat inspected for safety. A quick and simple inspection could highlight even a small error that could save your child’s life.
With National Seat Check Day around the corner, there are several different inspection sites Connecticut residents can visit. Most sites are open to the public but will require calling ahead for an appointment to ensure each family is granted an appropriate amount of time for their safety inspection.
These are some of the Fairfield County car seat fitting stations available:
Bethel Police Department
49 Plumtree Road, Bethel CT 06108
203-744-7900
hburnes@bethelpd.com
Officer Heather Burnes
Residents only
Appointment Only
Bristol Police Department
131 North Main Street, Bristol CT 06010
860-584-3017 ext. 3168
rmarcham@ci.bristol.ct.us
Sergeant Russ Marcham
Residents Only
Use online form on PD website to make appointment
Bridgeport Hospital Yale New Haven Health
267 Grant Street
Bridgeport, CT
203-200-KIDS or 203-384-4390
Appointment Only one Wednesday month
Brookfield Police Department
63 Silverman Road
Brookfield, 06804
Contact: Mitchell Heller
203-775-2575
mheller@brookfieldct.gov
Appointment Only
The Car Seat Crew LLC
Nick@thecarseatcrew.com
www.thecarseatcrew.com
www.facebook.com/thecarseatcrew
(203) 520-1068
Serving Fairfield County
Fee based service at your location or ours
Danbury Police Department
375 Main Street,
Danbury CT 06810
203-743-6314
j.antonelli@danbury-ct.gov
Sgt. Antonelli
Residents/Employees Only
Appointment only 1st 3 Mondays of the Month
Darien Police Department
25 Hecker Ave,
Darien CT 06820
Open to Public
Contact Elizabeth Dilorio
Easton Police Department
700 Moorehouse Road,
Easton CT 06612
203-268-4111
daren@eastonctpolice.com
Officer Mark Pastor
Open to Public
Executive Livery, LLC
175 North St.
Goshen, 06756
Office: 860-491-3955
executivelivery@me.com
Appointment Only
Free Service No Charge
Greenwich Fire Department
15 Havemayer PL
Greenwich CT 06830
203-622-8087
ctroths@aol.com
Firefighter Roth
Open to Public
Appointment Only
Fairfield Police Department
100 Reef Road,
Fairfield CT
One Saturday a month
Call Allison or check FPDCT.com for details.
Little Riders LLC
203-231-5907
LittleRidersCT@aol.com
www.facebook.com/littleriders
Serving Fairfield and New Haven county
Appointments at your home/office, evenings and weekends.
Fee-based service
Special needs trained
Monroe Police Department
7 Fan Hill Road,
Monroe CT 06468
203-261-3622
Detective Buckley
Residents & Appointments only
New Canaan Police Department
174 South Ave,
New Canaan CT 06840
203-594-3555
carseats@newcanaanct.gov
Officer Thomas Patten
Appts must be made via email: carseats@newcanaanct.gov
New Fairfield Police Department
302 Ball Pond Road,
New Fairfield CT 06810
203-312-5701
DLNY@comcast.net
Officer Lange
Open to Public
Appointments only
Newtown Police Department
3 Main Street,
Newtown CT 06470
203-426-5841
william.hull@newtown-ct.gov
Officer Flynn
Residents Only
Appointment Only
Norwalk Police Department
Norwalk Police Department
1 Monroe Street,
Norwalk CT 06854
203-854-3005
jhaggerty@norwalkct.org
Appointment Only
Safe in the Car
203-868-8151
www.facebook.com/safeinthecar
www.safeinthecar.com
jodi@safeinthecar.com
Fee based service at your home/office
Serving all of Fairfield and New Haven counties and parts of Litchfield and Hartford counties
Special needs trained
Trumbull Police Department
Trumbull Police Department
158 Edison Rd Trumbull, CT
203-452-3854
CFitch@trumbull-ct.gov
Coleen Fitch
Residents only, call for appointment
Weston Fire Rescue
56 Norfield Road,
Weston CT 06883
203-222-2647
westonfirerescue@yahoo.com
Mark Blake
Open to Public
Appointment Only, Special Needs Assistance available
Westport Police Department
50 Jesup Road,
Westport CT 06880
203-341-6000
cproudfoot@westportct.gov
Officer Chris Proudfoot
Residents Only
Appointment Only
Wilton Police Department
240 Danbury Road,
Wilton CT 06897
203-834-6260
anthony.cocco@wiltonct.org
Officer Anthony Cocco
Appointments only, open to the public
Connecticut children deserve the best protection available when it comes to riding in the car. If your child has sustained a serious injury from a vehicle accident due to the negligence of another, you could be eligible for financial compensation to help out with any damages suffered. Our winning team of attorneys at Jacobs & Wallace are committed to fighting back for your family’s right to safe travels on Connecticut roads. Call us for a free case evaluation to review all of your options for seeking restitution for your child’s unnecessary injuries.
Connecticut students are back to school, and drivers should be on high alert. Streets during the week will be more congested, school buses will be making frequent stops, and student pedestrians and cyclists of all ages will be out sharing the roads.
Traffic accidents involving students are devastating and preventable. Connecticut drivers and parents can help protect children this year by understanding the most common school-related road accidents and how to use safe driving behaviors to prevent them.
Back-to-school season can be a worrisome time for parents, but it’s not because of what’s going on in the classroom. According to the Transportation Research Board, at least 100 children are killed every year while walking to or from school. Another 25,000 school-aged children are injured, most during the afternoon hours when students are on their way home.
Most motor vehicle accidents involving students are caused when drivers are not prepared for the traffic changes back-to-school time can bring. These are the most common reasons for why school-related traffic accidents occur and what drivers should be prepared for as the year continues.
Across the country, tens of thousands of student walkers will be hitting the streets every week. These young pedestrians walk on sidewalks, in neighborhoods, on the side of country roads, and across crosswalk; sometimes they make their trips in complete darkness depending on the time of the year.
The National Safety Council reported that the majority of children who are killed in pedestrian accidents are between the ages of four to seven, students who are no older than second grade. Drivers who are not paying attention can easily strike a student on the side of the road or crossing the street, even when they are walking on a marked crosswalk.
The bus stop has become one of the most dangerous places for kids during the school day. Several school districts nationwide have begun encouraging parents to put their children on the bus to avoid increased traffic on the road and in school parking lots. Unfortunately, distracted and negligent drivers are not stopping to allow these children to get on or off the bus safely.
Connecticut drivers are already receiving fines after only one week of school for refusing to stop for buses loading and unloading students. In New Haven last week, a home surveillance camera caught footage of a girl trying to board a bus when a pickup truck came speeding by. The truck made zero attempt to slow down, requiring the bus driver to honk the horn multiple time to encourage the girls to stop.
Children who bike to school can be in serious danger when cars do not share the roads. Most aggressive drivers are not patient enough to wait until it’s safe to pass a cyclist, regardless of their age. They see cyclists as nuisances and have been known to clip them with the side of their car or run them off the road while speeding by.
Many high school-aged students will be driving their cars to school for the first time this year. These teen drivers are often unprepared for the increased road hazards back-to-school can bring, putting them at a higher risk for causing traffic accidents. Teen drivers are also more likely to become distracted behind the wheel, leading to preventable accidents involving fellow students.
Aggressive drivers of all type increase when school is back in session. These drivers, who got used to the faster commutes in the summer, are known for pulling reckless maneuvers to avoid school congestion. Speeding, hard turning, hard braking, and hard acceleration are a few of the ways these drivers can put student pedestrians, cyclists, and teen drivers at risk.
Drivers who do not stop for buses are not the only ones putting students in harm’s way. The AAA reports that one-third of drivers roll through stop signs in school zones. It does not take a significant amount of force from a car to cause an injury to a pedestrian or cyclist- cars will always win.
Traffic accidents that take the lives of innocent Connecticut students are entirely preventable. To prevent these unnecessary tragedies, the AAA recommends these simple safety measurers to help drivers avoid school-related injuries and fatalities this year:
We hope all Connecticut students have a safe and happy start to the school year. Connecticut drivers have a responsibility to keep our students safe on the road. If your child has been injured in a car 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.
Labor Day drunk drivers will not be dealt with lightly in Connecticut this year. In joining an estimated 30,000 police officers around the country, Connecticut state and local law enforcement will be participating in a nationwide crackdown to reduce preventable drunk driving accidents that cost hundreds of innocent people their lives every year.
The Berlin Police Department will be taking additional caution this weekend by setting up a sobriety checkpoint on the evening of August 30. This initiative is one of several steps this department has taken this month to reduce local cases of drunk driving after receiving a special grant from the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s Highway Safety Division. According to Patch, the allocated funds supported an increase in DUI detection and enforcement efforts running from November 2018 to Labor Day 2019.
The end-of-summer celebrations bring out more drunk drivers on Labor Day weekend than most other times of the year. Over 400 people are killed in traffic accidents over the three-day Labor Day weekend every year, and about 40 percent of these accidents are caused by drunk drivers.
Police officers are not the only advocates who can make a difference this Labor Day. All Connecticut residents have a responsibility to keep roads safe to reduce needless drunk driving fatalities and injuries. By driving sober and spreading awareness on the dangers alcohol can pose behind the wheel, you could help save lives too.
Labor Day is the second deadliest holiday on the road. Studies show you are 30 percent more likely to die in a drunk driving accident on this holiday than at any other time of the year. Around 79 percent of drunk driving fatalities occur at night, when road visibility is already at its worst.
Motorists who drink and drive on Labor Day give a number of excuses for why it’s ok: I’m only having one drink. I feel fine. I’m not driving far. Unforunately, these reasons do not make a drunk driver more capable behind the wheel.
Alcohol impairs the essential functions of an individual’s brain and body needed to operate a motor vehicle safely, including:
Contrary to popular belief, drivers do not have to drink an obscene amount of alcohol to experience the negative effects. One drink is more than enough to put several lives in danger.
Alcohol affects each driver differently, but there are a few predictable impairments. The N.H.T.S.A. lists the following negative consequences alcohol can have on someone’s driving abilities based on their Blood Alcohol Content (B.A.C.) level that could lead to serious accidents on the road:
The N.H.T.S.A. data shows that even when driver has a B.A.C. at or under the legal limit for driving, motorists can experience significant impairments leading to fatal accidents.
Drunk driving in Connecticut is getting out of control. In 2017, the N.H.T.S.A. reported Connecticut had the highest percentage of drunk driving fatalities in all 50 states.
Police officers arrested 8,228 people on drunk driving charges across the state in 2017. Unfortunately, this was not enough. Out of the 278 fatal accidents recorded, 43 percent involved at least one drunk driver. Of these fatal accidents, 75 percent of drivers had a B.A.C. of more than double the legal limit.
Even more terrifying, the majority of drunk drivers causing fatal accidents in Connecticut were not first-time offenders. With drunk driving accidents increasing by at least 30 percent every Labor Day weekend, repeat and first time drunk drivers put everyone on the road at unnecessary risk for life-threatening accidents and injuries.
Driving is a privilege that can easily be lost when motorists do not drive with care. Drunk driving is one of the most reckless behaviors imaginable. Fatalities resulting from these accidents are 100 percent preventable, and the law is not easy on these offenders.
Drivers caught drunk driving in Connecticut can expect the following:
Fines and penalties drivers are subject to under Connecticut law when caught driving under the influence, include:
1st Offense Penalties
2nd Offense Penalties
3rd Offense Penalties
The cost of taking someone’s life in a drunk driving accident is a price that can never be relayed. Don’t take a chance this weekend. Drive sober or not at all.
As community safety advocates, our team at Jacobs & Wallace wishes everyone a safe and happy Labor Day weekend. Plan ahead, stay alert and don’t take a risk with your family’s health this holiday.
If you or a loved has been injured in an accident due to the negligent acts of another, 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.