Posts Tagged ‘“personal injury lawyers”’
Thinking Pool Safety Saves Lives
Summer is here and that means it is time to enjoy the pool – and think safety. Each year, thousands of children are injured in the pool and hundreds lose their lives in drowning incidents. So while we want you to enjoy your pool this summer, we ask you to commit to protecting your children and family.
Keep these safety tips in mind:
- Supervise children at all times. If you’re in a group, it’s easy to get distracted so consider designating someone a “pool watcher.”
- Learn how to swim and teach your children.
- Get CPR training.
- Keep a phone with you at the pool.
- Make sure you have proper rescue equipment and keep it nearby.
- Keep your pool inside a fence at least four-feet tall and secure it with a durable lock when not in use.
- Remember small children can drown in kiddie pools and watch them accordingly.
- Check your pool’s drains. Suction from a pool’s drain can be powerful enough to trap both children and adults underwater. Do not use any pool or spa with broken or missing drain covers. At community pools, ask the operator if the pool complies with the Pool and Spa Safety Act.
Why it’s important:
- Pools were involved in the overwhelming majority of emergency room visits for drownings and submersion injuries from 2006 to 2008 across the country. They accounted for the majority of reported drowning fatalities from 2004 to 2006.
- From 2006 to 2008, there were on average 3,100 pool and spa related emergency department visits nationwide involving drowning injuries.
- Children ages one and two accounted for 62 percent of drowning injuries from 2006 to 2008 nationwide.
For more information on pool safety, visit www.poolsafety.gov.
The statistics from this article come from the Consumer Product Safety Commission and is available here.
Mass Commuter Challenge and Bay State Bike Week Remind Us to Pay Attention on Roads
Commuters across the state have been pedaling their way to work, the grocery store and other destinations all week as part of Bay State Bike Week and the Mass Commuter Challenge.
Commuters pledged to step out of their cars from May 17-21 and pedal 175,000 miles to workplaces from Worcester to Boston to Plymouth and across the rest of Massachusetts.
The challenge was organized to promote a healthy, non-polluting and sustainable means of transportation. Breakstone, White & Gluck supports this mission but hopes the Mass Commuter Challenge also highlights another important point: that as more bicycles take to the road, drivers and bicyclists must be more aware of each other for safety’s sake.
There are far too many bicycle accidents taking place on the roads today. In 2008, 716 bicyclists were killed across the country and an additional 52,000 were injured in traffic crashes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The NHTSA numbers show that 69 percent of bicycle accidents occured in urban areas and 28 percent of accidents occured between the hours of 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. The majority of the accidents occured in June (9 percent) and September (12 percent).
What Drivers Can Do to Improve Safety
The laws have changed significantly in the last year. Drivers have many more responsibilities to avoid injuring bicyclists. The first step is to be aware that you need to check twice for a cyclist. When overtaking cyclists, you cannot turn right unless there is adequate room, and you must yield to on-coming cyclists when turning left. When passing, you must do so at a safe distance. And remember to pay attention even after you turn off your motor vehicle’s engine. Under Massachusetts bike safety laws, motorists and their passengers can be fined up to $100 for opening car and truck doors in the path of a bicyclist.
A final tip: Put down that cell phone and concentrate on the road!
What Bicyclists Can Do to Improve Safety
Bicyclists can remember that bright colored reflective clothing and helmets save lives. Massachusetts only requires individuals age 1 to 16 to wear helmets, but we advise adults to wear them as well to avoid head injuries. Cyclists must obey the same rules as automobiles when on pubic ways. One of the biggest causes of accidents to cyclists: traveling the wrong way on a one-way street.
For more information about events in Boston and the Springfield area, visit www.masscommuterchallenge.org or www.massbike.org.
Read More