North Branford woman pens obit for son killed in crash

Matt Picciuto

I covered an emotion-charged presentation at Seymour High School April 25 by North Branford resident Lynn Riordan who lost her son, Matt Picciuto, to a car crash in May 2009. He was 18.


Riordan wrote the above poem in her son's voice.

She started Matt's Mission, an organization that helps needy students in the community as well as organizations. Riordan and her supporters coordinate a 5K road race in Matt's memory each year in North Branford to raise money for Matt's Mission Fund.

This year's event will be held at 9:30 a.m. May 18 at North Branford High School.

Valley teens star in safe driving PSAs

Videos premiere at event at Griffin Hospital in Derby 

Scene from “No Big Deal,” starring Kevin King of Oxford and Michelle Kellett of Shelton. 

DERBY - High school students from Shelton, Ansonia, Oxford and Derby helped write, direct and produce three Public Service Announcements on safe teen driving that were selected to appear on the Consumer Reports’ website.

The PSAs recently premiered at an event at Griffin Hospital as part of Safe Kids Greater Naugatuck Valley and Griffin Hospital’s Community Outreach Department’s Safe Teen Driving Program. They can be seen on Griffin Hospital's YouTube channel.

The PSAs featured Ansonia resident Kayla Adamowski, Chantel Dumas, Shyanne Garofalo, and Priya Patel of Derby, Kyle Barrett, Gianna Carloni, Julia Carloni, and Kevin King of Oxford, Liam Cummings, Fred Dapp, Michelle Kellett, Sean Kellett, Carly Seamon, and Kristen Sewell of Shelton.

The PSAs will air on the Consumer Reports’ website during the high school prom season to teach teenagers about the dangers of drunk and distracted driving, especially driving while texting. 

The local teenagers have been working on the PSAs since last summer with the help of Safe Kids Greater Naugatuck Valley and area video producer Ilene Wolf, of Finding Center Productions.

The PSA “No Big Deal” depicts two Valley teens on graduation day and how their lives are cut short due to drinking and driving and texting and driving.

“It Was Me” focuses on how much teenagers can lose by drinking and driving, texting and driving, and aggressive driving.

“More to Life” follows what should be a monumental day for a teen who is excited about his upcoming wrestling matches, his girlfriend, and an opportunity to go to college, but all his dreams are ironically cut short by what should have been a celebratory text.

This is a press release from Griffin Hospital. 

Seymour High School's safe driving pledge aims to save lives

*Sharing story from last week; pledge deadline is tomorrow
 

By Jean Falbo-Sosnovich, jean.sos@snet.net, @nhrvalley on Twitter

Posted: 10/18/13, 11:17 PM EDT | Updated: 6 days ago
 

SEYMOUR >> Car crashes are the No. 1 cause of death among teens in the U.S., statistics show, and that’s why school officials here are urging the community to make a pledge in the name of safe driving.

That staggering fact has prompted students at Seymour High School to rally community members, friends and family to commit to safe driving with an email campaign through Oct. 26.
“We are working hard to reverse the startling statistic that car crashes are the number one killer of teens in the U.S.,” said Seymour Schools’ Director of Security Richard Kearns.
Kearns said the high school is participating in “Celebrate My Drive,” a national program dedicated to celebrating the fun of getting a driver’s license, while also teaching young drivers safety habits to help them avoid car crashes.
If SHS is successful in recruiting enough support through the email campaign, Kearns said the school stands to win a $100,000 grant and possibly a concert in town by Grammy-winning artist Kelly Clarkson.

Kearns said making the pledge is simple, and anyone with a computer and an email address can log onto www.celebratemydrive.com by Oct. 26 to make a safe driving commitment once a day, every day.
“The more safe driving commitments our community makes on behalf of Seymour High School, the better our chance to win $100,000 and host the Kelly Clarkson concert,” Kearns said.
The Celebrate My Drive campaign is sponsored by State Farm Insurance, which says, according to its website, “a teen’s first year on the road is the most dangerous,” and teaching young drivers safe driving habits can help avoid accidents.

Statistics from State Farm’s website show the fatality rate for drivers age 16 to 19 is four times that of drivers aged 25 to 69 years; the crash fatality rate is highest for 16- to 17-year-olds within the first six months after getting their license; the top three predictors for fatality are non-use of seat belts, teen drivers and roads with speed limits of 45 mph or higher; half of teen drivers report driving 10 mph over the speed limit at least sometimes; nine out of 10 teens reported it was common to see teens driving while talking on a cellphone; teens have the lowest seat belt use rates of any age group, leading to deadly consequences, with six out of 10 drivers ages 16 to 20 who were killed in crashes having been unrestrained.
Kearns said more information about the campaign can be obtained by calling 203-888-2561 ext. 1003.
Pledges can also be made on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CelebrateMyDrive.