Oral Testimony by John Rumbold in Favor of SB 1231 at Public Hearing

Senator Coleman, Representative Fox, and members of the committee,

My name is John Rumbold, and I am speaking in favor of Senate Bill 1231: An Act to revise the Defective Highway Statues.

I currently live in Irvine, California. My brother, George and I grew up in Woodbridge. George remained a lifelong resident of Woodbridge, until his untimely and avoidable death, on November 13, 2007. I speak before you, today, on behalf of my brother, George.

At about 10:45 a.m., on that November 13th morning, a passing motorist, on Haddad Road, in Seymour, noticed a vehicle upside down, and belching steam, in Peat Swamp Reservoir. The chicken wire fence was down. Tire tracks were visible through the soft sand embankment, at a point where Haddad Road makes a sharp curve, within ten feet of the water’s edge.

I had traveled Haddad Road many times with my brother, in his pickup truck. Although he was a very cautious driver, I was always very nervous going around that curve – a curve that was unprotected.

One of the purposes of Defective Highway Statutes, is to incentivize government entities to carry out their obligation to provide for the safety of the citizens.

As currently structured, these statutes do not meet that purpose. The short notice requirements provide a loophole for government entities to delay completion of accident reports, until the notice requirement expires. And the short notice is an impediment to families grieving over a loss.

The record contains examples of municipalities not meeting their responsibility for correcting dangerous roadways. It took years and several deaths, before a traffic control signal was installed at the intersection of Acorn Hill and Seymour Roads, in Woodbridge.

In 1987, four teenagers perished, when their vehicle failed to negotiate a curve on Dillon Road in Woodbridge, and plunged into Lake Glen Reservoir. Subsequently, a guard rail was installed on a road that was known to be a hazard.

In 2003, the first selectman of Seymour went on the record in two separate town meetings, saying that Haddad Road was dangerous, and should be realigned – it never was.

In 2005, a vehicle failed to maintain control on the same curve, on Haddad Road, and plunged into Peat Swamp Reservoir.

After my brother’s accident, Seymour officials were denying the road was dangerous.

The Highway Design Manual, published by Connecticut Department of Highways, requires a guard rail for roadways that were in close proximity to permanent bodies of water, or when there is a steep slope adjacent to the roadway. Both conditions are satisfied at my brother’s accident locations, on Haddad Road, and yet, the condition remained for many years.

The state and municipalities are compelled to follow the Highway Design Manual under Connecticut statute 130-111. The D.O.T has admitted that they only apply the Design Ordinance, in the case of new road construction on major reconstruction.

SB1231 will close the loopholes in the Defective Highway Statues by providing that the notice requirement doesn’t start to toll until after a final accident report is issued by the responsible authority. It also would lengthen the notice period from 90 days to 180 days, or, one year, in the case of a fatality.

But for the ineffectiveness of the Defective Highway Statutes, my brother would have been calling me, that November evening to complain about a dent in his fender, from hitting a guard rail. Instead, my son was calling me, to tell me that George was dead!

Thanks to my initiatives, and the support of concerned residents of Seymour and Woodbridge, today, a guard rail extends for 1,100 feet, along Haddad Road, in close proximity to Peat Swamp Reservoir.

I urge this committee to forward this bill to the General Assembly, and I urge every member to vote in favor of it, in General Assembly.