If you have teenage children, it can be a hair-raising experience when they’re learning to drive. Even after they acquire their driver’s licenses, finding peace of mind when they’re driving is tough. However, as parents, you can do something about their safety.
According to an article posted in autoblog.com, research indicates parents have considerable influence in keeping their teenage drivers safe. Establishing a balance between being too submissive and too dominating is crucial in making your role as a parent effective. Here are a few suggestions:
Engage in emotionally safe conversations. When your teens feel safe to talk, they will open up about problems and be receptive to your advice.
Delay car ownership. While owning a car is often a status symbol for teens, they are safer when using their parents’ cars. Statistics show that having to ask parents’ for permission to drive cuts accident risks by 50 percent.
Set good examples for your kids. Drive safely, don’t speed and don’t get angry or upset when someone cuts you off. You’re a role model for your children’s behavior.
Begin educating your children about driving early. As soon as your child can start sitting in the front seat with you while you drive, start explaining actions you take. For example, point out that you drive more slowly to take curves or when weather is bad.
Set clear rules once your teen starts driving. Rules should include no speeding and routine seat belt use. After getting a license, have your teen drive six to 12 months without other passengers in the car. In general, passengers are a distraction. Many states have graduated drivers license laws for teen drivers, such as limits on the number of passengers in the car, seat belts requirements and speeding penalties that are enforced.
Some of the most heart wrenching accidents in Suffolk County our lawyers at Palermo Tuohy Bruno handle involve teen car crashes. As parents, help your teenagers drive safely.
Many companies today promote their businesses through Facebook and are able to build client bases, network and share valuable information. After all, Facebook provides a way to engage people and connect with them. And together you can build something of value.
Recently, we decided to take our Facebook site to the next level by offering a free iPad give away contest. We have many Facebook visitors who share or comment on interesting facts and useful information we post. Why not reward them for doing so? We decided when we reached 1,000 “likes” or comments that we’d randomly select and give someone an iPad.
Congratulations to Mr. Eddie Rizzi! Eddie won our 2015 IPad giveaway for our Facebook Sweepstakes.
We’ve been getting tremendous feedback on our page and we thank everyone for continuing to follow us. We use Facebook to keep our community of friends apprised and educated on their legal rights. Friends, clients and family can find out about important legal developments that may be of interest or relevant to their lives.
Our attorneys at Palermo Touhy Bruno enjoy contributing to the community we live in and taking an active part in it. From time to time, we have sponsored charity marathons and taken other actions to lend our support. We are a personal injury practice of dynamic lawyers who live right within your community. Our firm is well established and experienced. In fact, you may even know about us through media releases about notable cases we’ve handled.
We are here to serve you. And we certainly thank you for following us!
In April, two drunk driving accidents occurred in Long Island, involving a husband and wife. The New York Post reported that a state trooper witnessed their jeep crashing into a GMC pickup truck on Grand Avenue in Baldwin. After leaving the accident scene, the trooper caught up with them in a Walgreen’s parking lot and discovered the vehicle had crashed into a utility pole there. The wife, Colleen Magner, caused the GMC pickup accident, but the husband, Scott Magner, ran the jeep into the pole. They were both charged with DWI.
Previously in March 2015, a tragic accident occurred in Smithtown as a result of drunk driving. According to articles published by Channel 7 ABC News and CBS New York, Long Island woman Natalia Simons was driving while intoxicated on Route 25. She lost control of her vehicle, which crossed over two lanes from northbound to southbound traffic, resulting in a head-on collision with driver Larry Garwood. Larry Garwood had just exited the St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center parking lot.
Natalia Simons admitted to officers she had been drinking and was charged with a misdemeanor DWI. Larry Garwood was pronounced dead, upon his arrival back to Catherine of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown, where he had worked as a radiologist and just finished his night shift. Simons suffered minor injuries, and in her criminal case, which was on the docket for April, she pleaded “not guilty.”
Larry’s wife is devastated by the loss of her husband. Meanwhile, the drunk driver alleges in court that she was not guilty of causing the accident. One of the greatest concerns you hear from surviving family members is how to prevent others from experiencing this type of loss. While no one can bring back the life of a loved one, you can seek compensatory justice through a personal injury lawsuit. Taking legal action is one type of deterrent to drunk driving.
If you are involved in a serious Long Island car accident or lose a loved one through drunk driving negligence, our attorneys can help.
What a great summer we had this year! I can’t recall a summer with better weather. But unfortunately, the cooler months are closing in fast. In case you find yourself looking for something to do on a chilly Friday night, here are my top five legal themed movies to rent. Because everyone loves courtroom-based entertainment as much as us lawyers do…right?
1. The Verdict: Paul Newman brilliantly portrays a washed up lawyer given one last chance to win a big case. He’s asked to represent a woman in a coma due to a doctor’s malpractice. The law firm representing the doctors goes to great lengths to cover up their client’s errors.
2. A Few Good Men: Tom Cruise plays an inexperienced JAG lawyer asked to defend two marines accused of murdering a fellow marine. Jack Nicholson plays Col. Nathan Jessup, the egotistical commanding officer that covered up the fact that the death was due to a hazing ritual ordered by him.
3. My Cousin Vinny: Perhaps the funniest legal movie ever made. In this film Joe Pesci plays a street smart New York lawyer that finds himself trying his first case when his cousin is mistakenly accused of murdering a convenience store clerk while traveling through a small southern town. His unpolished style works against him, but his fiancé, played by a young Marisa Tomei, hysterically holds the key to cracking the case.
4. Erin Brockovich: Julia Roberts portrays a single mother that is hired by a local attorney. Despite the fact that she has no prior experience in the legal field, she almost single-handedly brings down a California power company that has polluted the city water supply, making countless citizens ill.
5. A Civil Action: Families of children who died due to contact with a polluted water supply sue the company responsible for dumping toxic waste into it. The suit proves to costly and almost bankrupts the law firm headed by John Travolta.
So fire up those Blue Rays and digital downloads. Oh…and don’t forget the popcorn!