The National Safety Council (NSC) has released their annual report that grades each state for safety and Connecticut was ranked as #6 in the nation for overall safety.
The report wraps up June’s National Safety Month to draw attention to eliminating preventable deaths – including from poisonings like drug overdoses, car crashes, falls, drownings, fires and choking. The NSC said about 140,000 people die each year from events that could be prevented.
When it comes to road safety, Connecticut ranks #15 in the nation. Of the 24 items listed in the NSC report that said makes roads safe – such as having a state sobriety program, having a primary seat belt law, and having an urban interstate speed limit of 55 miles per hour – about 50 percent of them were used in Connecticut.
"One of the main complaints in our city and in a lot of cities throughout the state would be the speed that people are traveling down our roadways and it’s one of the biggest factors of fatalities. So it’s important that we get people to slow down, obey the speed limits and keep our roadways safe," Officer Michael Diana of the Hartford Police Department said.
In 2015, there were 286 fatalities on the road in Connecticut
There were also 35 deaths in the state caused by a lack of workplace safety. That ranks Connecticut at #11 in the nation for that category – with a state enhanced 911 program and a workplace wellness law in place.
Connecticut was ranked #2 in the nation for Home and Community Safety, after Maryland.
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The NSC report said there were 1,500 deaths that could have been prevented in 2015 related to safety in the home and in the community.
That report suggested barriers required around residential pools to prevent drownings, requirements to have a gun license to purchase a gun and concussion awareness training for coaches.
