Ticket to Ride

The first automobile law was passed by the state of Connecticut in 1901. The speed limit was set at 12 miles per hour.  In 1937, Connecticut became the first state to issue permanent license plates for cars.  And in 1982, Connecticut made legislative history by approving the country’s first Lemon Law to aid owners of defective new automobiles.  (Oral history archived at Central Connecticut State University.) Connecticut was not first to prohibit the use of cell phones or mobile electronic devices while driving, but has joined a growing number of states that do so, while continuing to permit hands-free devices.  The National Transportation Safety Board is now urging the first-ever nationwide ban on driver use of portable electronic devices (PEDs) while operating a motor vehicle.

Walkway Over the Putnam

The Capitol Region Council of Governments (CRCOG) reports that the Putnam Bridge, which carries Route 3 over the Connecticut River between Glastonbury and Wethersfield, has a pedestrian walkway in its future.  The six-foot wide walkway will be constructed at a cost of approximately $5 million, added on to a $26 million State Department of Transportation bridge rehabilitation project set to get underway this year and be completed in 2014.  CRCOG is working with local communities to seek funding for a feasibility study to develop multi-use pathways on either side of the bridge to connect with local roads.

Death by Driving

Connecticut had 223 vehicular deaths in 2009, the latest stats available from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  Most deadly state in the nation?  California, with 3,081.  Runner-up, Texas with 3,071.  The only other state with more than 2,000 vehicular fatalities:  Florida with 2,558.  At the safest end of the spectrum:  Alaska with 64 deaths, Vermont with 74, Rhode Island with 83.