An article in the Elmira Star-Gazette newspaper today (pasted below) brings home two very simple, but very important safety tips:

• (1) Never drive drunk or ride as a passenger with someone you know has been drinking, and,
• (2) Always, always, always wear your seatbelt!

After 20+ years as an accident lawyer in NY and PA, I continue to be amazed at the number of people who keep violating these simple safety rules and they pay the price by suffering serious personal injury or death in auto accidents. Please protect yourself and your family by using common sense and ALWAYS following these rules.

Here’s the Elmira Star-Gazette article that got me thinking about this:

Man charged with DWI, manslaughter after crash
Elmira, Canton men killed in two Sunday one-vehicle crashes.
Star-Gazette, 1/7/08

An Elmira man faces two felony counts after a motor vehicle accident early Sunday that killed his passenger.State police at Painted Post say 33-year-old Larry D. Fenstermacher of Elmira was traveling south on county Route 41 in the town of Hornby when he veered off the west side of the road and struck a parked vehicle. Fenstermacher’s 1987 Mercedes Benz then overturned and struck a utility pole, troopers said.

A passenger, Edward O. Hammond, 41, also of Elmira, was partially ejected from the vehicle. Hammond was pronounced dead at Corning Hospital following the 12:30 a.m. accident. Fenstermacher was transported to Arnot Ogden Medical Center in Elmira, where he was treated and released.

State police charged Fenstermacher with felony driving while intoxicated and second-degree manslaughter, a Class C felony. He was arraigned in Hornby Town Court and remanded to the Steuben County Jail without bail.

The state police accident reconstruction unit from Canandaigua was called to the scene to assist with the investigation.

In the Northern Tier, a Canton man was killed early Sunday when the truck he was driving left state Route 414 and crashed.

Tioga County Deputy Coroner Lisa Lindquist of Blossburg pronounced Brent D. Woodward, 31, dead at 3:15 a.m., an hour after the crash. Lindquist listed the cause of death as head and neck injuries.

State police at Mansfield said Woodward was driving a 2000 Ford Ranger pickup truck east on Route 414, in extreme southeastern Tioga County at the Bradford County line. The truck crossed the roadway, traveled down an embankment, crossed a ditch and became airborne, police said. It rolled over several times and stopped in a field, police said.

Woodward was alone in the truck, Lindquist said. He was not wearing a seat belt, police said.

The Canton Volunteer Fire Department assisted troopers at the crash scene.

Thanks for reading,Jim Reed, NY Auto Accident Lawyer