The 17-year-old son of two Bristol natives died last week following a Naples, Florida traffic accident.
Nathan Musumano was behind the wheel when he lost control and the car plunged into a 20-foot deep lake at night, according to his aunt, Joyce Musumano.
Musumano struggled to help three friends get out of the sinking car, she said, but couldn’t get out himself.
One of his friends tried several times to reach him in the sunken car, but “it was so dark” and deep that it proved impossible, she said.
Musumano’s parents, Gregory and Chevawn (Heier) Musumano, both grew up in Bristol as part of a large family in town. They’re still in touch with many in their hometown.
Nathan Musumano was a “very sweet and very kind” young man, Joyce Musumano said Monday. “He was a good kid and he always wanted to make people laugh.”
Musumano was born in West Virginia, grew up in Ohio and moved to Naples with his family nine years ago.
A football and lacrosse player, he was about to enter his senior year of high school. He hoped to become a military pilot.
In addition to his parents, he is survived by six siblings, Jordan, Catherine, Jacinta, Cecilia, Isabel and Aiden. He is also survived by his maternal grandmother, Molly Samuel Heier and paternal grandparents, Pat and Carmel Musumano, along with many relatives.
*******
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
Showing posts with label driving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label driving. Show all posts
April 9, 2008
Teen driving bill passes state House
Press release from state Reps. Bill Hamzy and Ron Burns:
A fatal accident on Route 6 in Bristol last August that took the lives of four young people and injured three others, two seriously, might have been prevented if a measure that that passed the state House of Representatives today had been in effect in 2007, state Representatives William A. Hamzy and Ron Burns said today.
The legislation (House Bill 5748) would increase the amount of behind the wheel, on the road training 16- and 17-year olds must complete before qualifying for a drivers license; set tougher mandatory drivers license suspensions for 16- and 17-year old drivers who violate certain traffic laws; and extend the passenger restrictions that currently apply to 16- and 17-year-olds after they are licensed from the first six months after being licensed to a full year, said representatives Hamzy, R-78th District, and Burns, R-77th District, who the bill.
“Almost every day, I drive by the scene of a horrific fatal accident on Route 6 in Bristol that occurred last year,” said Representative Hamzy, who lives in Terryville and works in Bristol. “It is a tragic reminder of what can happen when teenagers drive at excessive speeds or take unnecessary risks behind the wheel. The likelihood of a serious or fatal accident increases significantly when one or more young people are riding in a vehicle operated by an inexperienced teen driver. The purpose of this legislation is to significantly reduce the number and seriousness of these kinds of accidents in the years ahead.”
“As a parent, I understand the concern parents feel when their sons and daughters take the wheel in the months after they get their drivers’ licenses,” Representative Burns said. “While I believe this bill still needs work, the good that it will do far outweighs some of the concerns I have about it. I’m confident the state legislature will iron out whatever shortcomings in the law become apparent in the years ahead. Meanwhile, parents should feel more confident that our action today will help ensure the future safety of all Connecticut motorists – not just teenagers.”
*******
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
A fatal accident on Route 6 in Bristol last August that took the lives of four young people and injured three others, two seriously, might have been prevented if a measure that that passed the state House of Representatives today had been in effect in 2007, state Representatives William A. Hamzy and Ron Burns said today.
The legislation (House Bill 5748) would increase the amount of behind the wheel, on the road training 16- and 17-year olds must complete before qualifying for a drivers license; set tougher mandatory drivers license suspensions for 16- and 17-year old drivers who violate certain traffic laws; and extend the passenger restrictions that currently apply to 16- and 17-year-olds after they are licensed from the first six months after being licensed to a full year, said representatives Hamzy, R-78th District, and Burns, R-77th District, who the bill.
“Almost every day, I drive by the scene of a horrific fatal accident on Route 6 in Bristol that occurred last year,” said Representative Hamzy, who lives in Terryville and works in Bristol. “It is a tragic reminder of what can happen when teenagers drive at excessive speeds or take unnecessary risks behind the wheel. The likelihood of a serious or fatal accident increases significantly when one or more young people are riding in a vehicle operated by an inexperienced teen driver. The purpose of this legislation is to significantly reduce the number and seriousness of these kinds of accidents in the years ahead.”
“As a parent, I understand the concern parents feel when their sons and daughters take the wheel in the months after they get their drivers’ licenses,” Representative Burns said. “While I believe this bill still needs work, the good that it will do far outweighs some of the concerns I have about it. I’m confident the state legislature will iron out whatever shortcomings in the law become apparent in the years ahead. Meanwhile, parents should feel more confident that our action today will help ensure the future safety of all Connecticut motorists – not just teenagers.”
*******
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
February 8, 2008
Killer driver was going as much as 140 MPH in deadly Route 6 wreck
When Sean Landry crossed the center line on Route 6 and slammed his Subarua Impreza into an oncoming car last summer, killing himself and three teenager passengers, he was racing at up to 140 miles an hour, a police report released today concludes.
Here's the press release issued by the police:
The Bristol Police Traffic Division has completed the investigation into the quadruple motor vehicle fatality that occurred at 2328 hours on August 23, 2007 in the area of 522 Terryville Avenue.
This collision occurred when a 2006 Subaru Impreza operated by 18 year old Sean Landry of Plymouth crossed over the center double line and struck a second vehicle heading in the opposite direction. There were three other passengers in his vehicle - Jordan Gagnon age 16 of Farmington CT, Myles Gosselin age 17 of Burlington CT and Alyssa Roy age 16 of Farmington CT.
The second vehicle struck was a 2001 Ford Taurus operated by 67-year-old Thomas Lehmann of Terryville CT. There were two other passengers in his vehicle – Deborah Lehmann age 51 of Terryville CT and Giovanna Tirado age 61 of Los Angles CA.
As a result of the injuries sustained in the accident, Sean Landry, Jordan Gagnon, Myles Gosselin and Alyssa Roy were killed. Thomas Lehmann, Deborah Lehmann and Giovanna Tirado all survived but were seriously injured as a result of the accident.
The investigation shows that Sean Landry was traveling east on Terryville Avenue at a high speed and he lost control of his vehicle. He crossed over the double yellow line and struck the second vehicle. The police investigation concluded that Landry was traveling between 100 and 140 miles per hour at the time of the collision. Alcohol was not a factor in this investigation.
The police investigation concluded that Sean Landry had operated his vehicle in such a reckless, negligent and careless manner that his actions caused a collision which resulted in the deaths of Jordan Gagnon, Myles Gosselin, Alyssa Roy and himself. His actions also resulted in the serious physical injuries to Thomas Lehmann, Deborah Lehmann and Giovanna Tirado.
This investigation is concluded with no further action to be taken.
*******
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
Here's the press release issued by the police:
The Bristol Police Traffic Division has completed the investigation into the quadruple motor vehicle fatality that occurred at 2328 hours on August 23, 2007 in the area of 522 Terryville Avenue.
This collision occurred when a 2006 Subaru Impreza operated by 18 year old Sean Landry of Plymouth crossed over the center double line and struck a second vehicle heading in the opposite direction. There were three other passengers in his vehicle - Jordan Gagnon age 16 of Farmington CT, Myles Gosselin age 17 of Burlington CT and Alyssa Roy age 16 of Farmington CT.
The second vehicle struck was a 2001 Ford Taurus operated by 67-year-old Thomas Lehmann of Terryville CT. There were two other passengers in his vehicle – Deborah Lehmann age 51 of Terryville CT and Giovanna Tirado age 61 of Los Angles CA.
As a result of the injuries sustained in the accident, Sean Landry, Jordan Gagnon, Myles Gosselin and Alyssa Roy were killed. Thomas Lehmann, Deborah Lehmann and Giovanna Tirado all survived but were seriously injured as a result of the accident.
The investigation shows that Sean Landry was traveling east on Terryville Avenue at a high speed and he lost control of his vehicle. He crossed over the double yellow line and struck the second vehicle. The police investigation concluded that Landry was traveling between 100 and 140 miles per hour at the time of the collision. Alcohol was not a factor in this investigation.
The police investigation concluded that Sean Landry had operated his vehicle in such a reckless, negligent and careless manner that his actions caused a collision which resulted in the deaths of Jordan Gagnon, Myles Gosselin, Alyssa Roy and himself. His actions also resulted in the serious physical injuries to Thomas Lehmann, Deborah Lehmann and Giovanna Tirado.
This investigation is concluded with no further action to be taken.
*******
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
February 7, 2008
Crackdown looms for speedy teens
When 20-year-old Mark Paparello of Bristol gunned his Honda Prelude over 100 miles per hour on the way home from an October memorial service for a Wolcott teen who died in a car crash, he turned himself into a poster child for youthful recklessness.
And he may have made it a little less likely that speedy young drivers will perish in the future.
“Children just don’t understand that speed can kill,” state Rep. Frank Nicastro, a Bristol Democrat from the 79th District who is pushing for tougher laws for young drivers.
He told a Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce legislative breakfast Thursday that Paparello racing home that night showed all too obviously that some young people “think they’re indestructible” behind the wheel.
Nicastro is among a group of five lawmakers who recently announced a new proposal aimed at cracking the whip on 16- and 17-year-old drivers who are ticketed for reckless driving, driving under the influence, refusing to take a Breathalyzer, drag racing or violating the restrictions on passengers.
Under their proposal, police officers would be required to seize the young driver’s license and deliver it to the chief of police within 24 hours and to secure safe transportation home for the youths involved.
To get a license returned, teens would have to show they had completed a retraining program and be accompanied by a parent or guardian, if the legislators’ plan wins approval from the General Assembly and Gov. Jodi Rell.
Licenses would be suspended for increasing lengths of time depending on how many previous offenses had been lodged against the driver.
It’s “absolutely appalling” how many teen drivers have managed to rack up multiple tickets, said state Rep. Betty Boukus, a Plainville Democrat whose 22nd District includes a sliver of Forestville.
“We have to get tough with teenagers,” Nicastro said. “It’s not because we want to punish them. It’s because we love them.”
He said that he doesn’t want to see any more youngsters killed in deadly accidents like the ones that happened in Bristol and Wolcott last summer, where seven teens died in two particularly gruesome wrecks.
State Rep. Bill Hamzy, a Plymouth Republican whose 78th District includes northwestern Bristol, said he notices the Route 6 accident site every time he drives by the makeshift memorial near St. Joseph Cemetery marking the spot where four teens perished in August.
“It gets you thinking,” Hamzy said.
“One of the problems is there are plenty of parents who want to be their child’s best friend” and “to provide them with everything they want” except the discipline that will keep their child safe, he said.
Hamzy said he’s not sure what the state can do to help, but he favors any reasonable effort to make a difference that would save lives.
Hamzy pointed out that the driver in the Route 6 crash was 19 years old so a crackdown on younger drivers wouldn’t have had any impact on him anyway.
“I’m not sure what the magic answer is” to get drivers to slow down and show more responsibility on the road, Hamzy said.
State Sen. Tom Colapietro, a Bristol Democrat who has represented the 31st District since 1992, said there’s a simple way to keep young drivers off the streets: parents can simply keep the keys away from them.
“Parents want the law to say what they don’t want to say” directly to their children, Colapietro said.
He said he understands the mentality of young drivers who don’t recognize the danger they may be in because “I used to think I was indestructible.”
Boukus said that families used to have a single car and teens didn’t have the easy access to a vehicle that they do now. She said that many of them find it a necessity to drive.
One problem, she added, is that mass transit options are so scarce that people don’t have options except to drive.
Nicastro said he doesn’t want to raise the driving age to 18, as some have proposed, because at that age both he and Colapietro were in the U.S. Navy. Even now, he said, the country is “losing 17-year-olds” in battle overseas and it doesn’t seem right to deny them the right to drive a car when they can be asked to give their lives for their country.
Nicastro said that parents have to be more involved – and willing to be tough.
But, he said, he recognizes that most young drivers “have their act together and are good and cautious drivers.”
“We can’t punish all for a few,” Nicastro said.
Some current laws for most 16 and 17-year-old drivers
* During the first three months they have a license, only parents, a legal guardian or instructors can be in the car with them.
* During the following three months, the only additional passengers allowed are members of the driver’s immediate family.
* Driving is prohibited between the hours of midnight and 5 a.m. unless the individual is traveling for employment, school, religious activities or for a medical necessity, or if the individual is an assigned driver in a Safe Ride program.
* They cannot use cell phones or handheld electronic devices of any sort.
For more details on teen driving rules and restrictions, see this Connecticut DMV site.
*******
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
And he may have made it a little less likely that speedy young drivers will perish in the future.
“Children just don’t understand that speed can kill,” state Rep. Frank Nicastro, a Bristol Democrat from the 79th District who is pushing for tougher laws for young drivers.
He told a Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce legislative breakfast Thursday that Paparello racing home that night showed all too obviously that some young people “think they’re indestructible” behind the wheel.
Nicastro is among a group of five lawmakers who recently announced a new proposal aimed at cracking the whip on 16- and 17-year-old drivers who are ticketed for reckless driving, driving under the influence, refusing to take a Breathalyzer, drag racing or violating the restrictions on passengers.
Under their proposal, police officers would be required to seize the young driver’s license and deliver it to the chief of police within 24 hours and to secure safe transportation home for the youths involved.
To get a license returned, teens would have to show they had completed a retraining program and be accompanied by a parent or guardian, if the legislators’ plan wins approval from the General Assembly and Gov. Jodi Rell.
Licenses would be suspended for increasing lengths of time depending on how many previous offenses had been lodged against the driver.
It’s “absolutely appalling” how many teen drivers have managed to rack up multiple tickets, said state Rep. Betty Boukus, a Plainville Democrat whose 22nd District includes a sliver of Forestville.
“We have to get tough with teenagers,” Nicastro said. “It’s not because we want to punish them. It’s because we love them.”
He said that he doesn’t want to see any more youngsters killed in deadly accidents like the ones that happened in Bristol and Wolcott last summer, where seven teens died in two particularly gruesome wrecks.
State Rep. Bill Hamzy, a Plymouth Republican whose 78th District includes northwestern Bristol, said he notices the Route 6 accident site every time he drives by the makeshift memorial near St. Joseph Cemetery marking the spot where four teens perished in August.
“It gets you thinking,” Hamzy said.
“One of the problems is there are plenty of parents who want to be their child’s best friend” and “to provide them with everything they want” except the discipline that will keep their child safe, he said.
Hamzy said he’s not sure what the state can do to help, but he favors any reasonable effort to make a difference that would save lives.
Hamzy pointed out that the driver in the Route 6 crash was 19 years old so a crackdown on younger drivers wouldn’t have had any impact on him anyway.
“I’m not sure what the magic answer is” to get drivers to slow down and show more responsibility on the road, Hamzy said.
State Sen. Tom Colapietro, a Bristol Democrat who has represented the 31st District since 1992, said there’s a simple way to keep young drivers off the streets: parents can simply keep the keys away from them.
“Parents want the law to say what they don’t want to say” directly to their children, Colapietro said.
He said he understands the mentality of young drivers who don’t recognize the danger they may be in because “I used to think I was indestructible.”
Boukus said that families used to have a single car and teens didn’t have the easy access to a vehicle that they do now. She said that many of them find it a necessity to drive.
One problem, she added, is that mass transit options are so scarce that people don’t have options except to drive.
Nicastro said he doesn’t want to raise the driving age to 18, as some have proposed, because at that age both he and Colapietro were in the U.S. Navy. Even now, he said, the country is “losing 17-year-olds” in battle overseas and it doesn’t seem right to deny them the right to drive a car when they can be asked to give their lives for their country.
Nicastro said that parents have to be more involved – and willing to be tough.
But, he said, he recognizes that most young drivers “have their act together and are good and cautious drivers.”
“We can’t punish all for a few,” Nicastro said.
Some current laws for most 16 and 17-year-old drivers
* During the first three months they have a license, only parents, a legal guardian or instructors can be in the car with them.
* During the following three months, the only additional passengers allowed are members of the driver’s immediate family.
* Driving is prohibited between the hours of midnight and 5 a.m. unless the individual is traveling for employment, school, religious activities or for a medical necessity, or if the individual is an assigned driver in a Safe Ride program.
* They cannot use cell phones or handheld electronic devices of any sort.
For more details on teen driving rules and restrictions, see this Connecticut DMV site.
*******
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
October 5, 2007
Crack down on young speed demons
In the past couple of months, seven teenagers have died in two high-speed, sickening car accidents.
In both cases, the drivers had already proven their recklessness on the road, but were still behind the wheel of hot Subaru sports cars that nobody who’s 17 ought to be driving.
What angers me most about the accident yesterday is that Anthony Apruzzese, the driver, had no business driving anything faster than a 10-speed.
Look at what the Waterbury Republican-American has uncovered about Apruzzese’s driving record if you want to see government failure at its best.
Since he got his license 14 months ago, Apruzzese racked up a speeding ticket in November, another one a few days later and a ticket after that for improper seat belt us.
Then, in March, he slammed a car into a tree at 90 miles an hour – while he was drunk.
Amazingly, he got his driver’s license back 90 days later.
Yesterday, of course, Apruzzese ceased needing a license. And two girls, 14 and 15, died along with him after he veered into the path of a delivery truck at high speed.
Of course, the driver bears most of the blame. His parents will also have to live with their failures in this.
But what concerns me is how come this guy was allowed to keep driving?
Capt. Domenic Angiolillo, Wolcott police spokesman, told the Waterbury paper that “he had frequently spoken to Apruzzese about his driving habits, including at least six times in September alone. He said Abruzzese was always respectful and polite.”
"He was a good kid who just made some bad choices," Angiolillo told the paper.
Well, maybe.
But among the bad choices in this whole sorry mess are ones made by lawmakers in Hartford.
The law should be changed, as quickly as possible, to crack down on this type of teenage recklessness.
Anyone under 21 who is found guilty of drunk driving should have no chance at all to recover his or her license until they are 21. That just seems like a no-brainer, for so many obvious reasons.
Moreover, anybody under 21 who gets a second speeding ticket should also lose the right to drive, maybe for a year.
But if anyone under 21 is caught going more than 20 miles over the speed limit, which is pretty darn fast, they shouldn’t even get a chance to rack up another ticket.
It’s not teen drivers who are the menace. It’s reckless teen drivers.
Once they’ve proven themselves unfit to be behind the wheel, make damn sure they’re not. It’s our responsibility to protect the rest of society from the danger they pose, of course, but it’s also our duty to protect them from themselves.
Kids make mistakes. But we should make it a whole lot harder for them to make the same mistakes over and over until they get killed from them.
I don't want to see more teenagers smashed up and dead like the ones who who died in Bristol in July and in Wolcott yesterday. Let's do something about it.
*******
Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
In both cases, the drivers had already proven their recklessness on the road, but were still behind the wheel of hot Subaru sports cars that nobody who’s 17 ought to be driving.
What angers me most about the accident yesterday is that Anthony Apruzzese, the driver, had no business driving anything faster than a 10-speed.
Look at what the Waterbury Republican-American has uncovered about Apruzzese’s driving record if you want to see government failure at its best.
Since he got his license 14 months ago, Apruzzese racked up a speeding ticket in November, another one a few days later and a ticket after that for improper seat belt us.
Then, in March, he slammed a car into a tree at 90 miles an hour – while he was drunk.
Amazingly, he got his driver’s license back 90 days later.
Yesterday, of course, Apruzzese ceased needing a license. And two girls, 14 and 15, died along with him after he veered into the path of a delivery truck at high speed.
Of course, the driver bears most of the blame. His parents will also have to live with their failures in this.
But what concerns me is how come this guy was allowed to keep driving?
Capt. Domenic Angiolillo, Wolcott police spokesman, told the Waterbury paper that “he had frequently spoken to Apruzzese about his driving habits, including at least six times in September alone. He said Abruzzese was always respectful and polite.”
"He was a good kid who just made some bad choices," Angiolillo told the paper.
Well, maybe.
But among the bad choices in this whole sorry mess are ones made by lawmakers in Hartford.
The law should be changed, as quickly as possible, to crack down on this type of teenage recklessness.
Anyone under 21 who is found guilty of drunk driving should have no chance at all to recover his or her license until they are 21. That just seems like a no-brainer, for so many obvious reasons.
Moreover, anybody under 21 who gets a second speeding ticket should also lose the right to drive, maybe for a year.
But if anyone under 21 is caught going more than 20 miles over the speed limit, which is pretty darn fast, they shouldn’t even get a chance to rack up another ticket.
It’s not teen drivers who are the menace. It’s reckless teen drivers.
Once they’ve proven themselves unfit to be behind the wheel, make damn sure they’re not. It’s our responsibility to protect the rest of society from the danger they pose, of course, but it’s also our duty to protect them from themselves.
Kids make mistakes. But we should make it a whole lot harder for them to make the same mistakes over and over until they get killed from them.
I don't want to see more teenagers smashed up and dead like the ones who who died in Bristol in July and in Wolcott yesterday. Let's do something about it.
*******
Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
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