The accident took place in Southern Illinois on Interstate 70, about 70 miles east of St. Louis. Police reported that the van, which had Maryland plates, ran into the center median of the roadway, crossed back over the lanes of the interstate and rolled over several times finally coming to rest about 10 ft. from the shoulder, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Nine of the eleven passengers in the 2002 Dodge were thrown from the van. Five of those thrown were

Bruce Bowen, the Fayette County coroner told the Associated Press, “It was total disaster,” adding, “There were just bodies everywhere.” Bowen also said that this was the worst accident he has seen in his 13 years as coroner.

Bowen has not released the names of the victims because none of the men had their wallets or identification on them.

The other six accident victims were taken to area hospitals in critical condition.

Scott Carter of the Fayette County Sherriff’s Office said the van was traveling from California after attending a religious event. Authorities are unsure where they were traveling too, but think it could have been Pennsylvania.

“There weren’t any other vehicles involved,” Carter said. “I’m not sure what caused this.”

The driver of the van was among the six survivors, and was conscious when emergency crews arrived, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The driver of the van, who has not been identified, was cited for improper lane change and driving with a suspended license.

Authorities are not sure if van was rented or owned by the church group.

Bowen was sure if the nine men were wearing their seat belts, but felt that since they were ejected they probably were not.

The eastbound lanes of I-70 were closed for a few hours while police conducted their investigation. They said it could take several weeks before they are able to determine the cause.

This was the second deadly church van accident in a matter of weeks. In early April, another church van carrying between 18 and 20 people, mostly teenagers, was traveling from Miami to Orlando on a mission trip when one of the tires blew.

The van careened out of control before flipping over several times. In this accident only one person, Merlende Chery, a 47 year-old woman from Miami was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead on the scene.

Eighteen of the passengers were also injured. Authorities were surprised only one person was ejected from the vehicle since most of the occupants were not wearing their seat belts.

Authorities were unclear why the tire blew out, whether it was faulty or if the van was filled with passengers and luggage far beyond its capacity.

If there is one lesson a person can learn from these two accidents is to always wear your safety belt, in many cases it means the difference between life and death.

On Thursday, investigators announced they charged 33 people for their involvement in the elaborate insurance fraud scheme that cost Florida insurers close to $20 million. According to law enforcement, the accidents were carefully staged and participants were trained to defraud insurance companies the Huffington Post reported.

The scheme also involved medical professionals at clinics who were recruited to make false diagnoses, prescribe fake treatments which were then given to office workers to file the fraudulent claims with insurance companies.

Recruiters found their “victims” then trained them on how to damage the vehicle, how to speak to police, how to get their accident report, and directed them to the clinics they enlisted in the scheme for medical treatment even if they didn’t need it.

The recruiters, participants, and medical providers would then split the proceeds from the personal injury policies. Authorities say the ringleaders would the money in their own accounts so they could then distribute the proceeds to different parties.

“If you get upset about your car insurance premiums going up, this crime is one of the reasons why,” said William J. Maddalena, the assistant special agent in charge of FBI Miami. “Every time an insurance payout is made for a staged accident in Florida, we all feel the pain in the pocketbook.”

Operation Sledgehammer began three years ago, when a member of the public tipped off law enforcement. Once on the case, investigators noticed that participants used sledge hammers to damage some vehicles.

Investigators previously charged 92 people from Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. And this week they arrested 26 of 33 people involved in the staged-accident scheme. Authorities believe some of the suspects, including the ringleaders have fled to their native Cuba.

The charges against the individuals included mail fraud, money laundering conspiracies, structuring financial transactions and participating in staged-accident fraud.

Participants who have been convicted have already made $5 million in restitution payments to the affected insurance companies, the Sun-Sentinel reported.

These fraudsters are making things harder for accident victims who are suffering from legitimate injuries, making the jobs of accident attorneys much more difficult. Not only do they cause insurance rates to rise for other drivers, but they make insurers question valid claims from accident victims who are seriously injured.

It is because of rampant fraud that over the years Florida lawmakers have made changes to accident compensation laws, severely limiting the amount some victims can collect. Obtaining a fair and adequate accident settlement is already difficult even with the help of a personal injury attorney. In order to get a settlement that actually covers medical expenses and other incident-related costs, victims and attorneys must aggressively negotiate with insurance companies. Insurers are already reluctant to pay accident victims what they deserve and fraud of this magnitude will only make it harder for accident victims in the future.

The two men, Brian Black, 38 and Mark Tovissi, 50 were working for an excavating contractor at the steel plant when the boom from the crane collapsed and fell onto the two men, killing then instantly.

Officials at Timken released a statement following the accident which read statement read, “At approximately 12:45 p.m. a crane accident at a construction site at The Timken Co.’s Faircrest Steel Plant, in Perry Township, Canton, OH, resulted in the fatalities of two Beaver Excavating workers. On-site responders immediately contacted emergency and Perry Township police, who arrived at the scene shortly thereafter. OSHA officials also were notified. Construction operations were immediately suspended until further notice.”

The Akron Beacon Journal reported that the crane was not owned by Timken or Beaver Excavation; the owner has not been identified.

OSHA arrived on the scene to investigate the cause.

According to 2011 data from the OSHA, approximately 13 people are killed in workplace accident nationwide on a daily basis. That equates to an average of 4,609 fatal workplace accidents each year. An additional 4 million workers are injured on the job each year and some of those injured workers become permanently disabled.

A large majority of those fatal and injurious accidents, approximately 18 percent occur on construction sites, and are generally caused by falls, electrocution, strikes by objects and caught-in-between accidents; OSHA refers to these accidents as the “fatal four.”

OSHA is tasked with making certain that employers are taking the necessary precautions to prevent workplace accidents, but with only 2,200 inspectors it is difficult for the agency to make certain that all of 130 million U.S. workers are kept safe from harm.

Employers have a responsibility to make certain that their employees are given adequate safety training and that all equipment is in proper working order. But unfortunately, some employers put their profit margins above the safety of their employees and put people’s lives at risk.

Workman’s compensation will cover an employee’s injuries if they occurred while on the job, but some injuries are permanently debilitating, and the worker will need financial help beyond their medical bills.

Although workman’s compensation will cover the employees lost wages, the amount is generally only two-thirds of what the employee earned while working, although some states put a cap on these benefits. This may not be enough for injured person to cover their everyday living expenses or maintain their standard of living.

Injured employees don’t always need the help of an accident attorney, but sometimes employers may question an employee’s eligibility for long-term or disability benefits. In these cases,  it best for the injured worker to contact a personal injury attorney to discuss their injuries and determine if it is in their best interests to pursue a negligent employer for settlements beyond what workman’s compensation is willing to pay.

The tragic accident took place last Thursday, May 9^th on I-70 just outside Dayton, when a tractor-trailer clipped another vehicle setting off a chain reaction collision that involved several vehicles.

According to a preliminary investigation, a Freightliner driven by Chicago-native Tony Smith clipped the side mirror of a Jeep Liberty on 1-70 just after 9 a.m. The Columbus Dispatch reported that traffic had backed up, and Smith failed to notice it had slowed. The Freightliner then struck a Toyota Camry and Pontiac Vibe, WHIO TV reported.

The Freightliner then struck a Volvo tractor-trailer which then rear-ended a Nissan.

Dianna Schwab, 71 of Beavercreek and Robin Jones, 49, of London were both pronounced dead at the scene. Schwab was in the Toyota and Jones was in the Vibe.

Neither the driver of the Jeep Liberty or the Volvo was injured, but the driver of the Nissan a d Smith were both taken to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Dianna Schwab was well-known in the community as an accomplished golfer and physical education teacher. She was on her way to drop her nine-year old Corgi, named Lucky, to her daughter’s house so she could take an out-of-town trip.

After the crash, Lucky ran from the scene but was found in surrounding neighborhood and returned to the Schwab’s daughter.

The accident closed down the eastbound lanes of I-70 for several hours as police investigated the accident and crews cleaned up a fuel spill.

Traffic accidents, even those involving tractor trailers, have many different causes but driver inattention and excessive speed can be especially dangerous especially when they involve large and heavy tractor trailers.

According the Department of Transportation, in 2011 over 3,000 people were killed in crashes involving large commercial trucks, an additional 88,000 thousand were injured. Commercial truck collisions involving death, injury and property damage cost roughly $87 billion annually.

Speed and inattention are two common causes of traffic accidents for vehicles of all sizes. There is a risk that any accident involving excessive speed by one or more drivers can lead to a fatal or catastrophic injury. The weight and size of trucks makes them especially injurious when they are involved in a traffic collision.

Some accident victims are lucky and can come out of an accident relatively unscathed, but unfortunately many accident victims lose their lives or sustain injuries that lead to temporary of permanent disability.

Accident victims often find themselves saddled with exorbitant medical bills, which is just one of the many financial challenges they face, especially if they are unable to work while recovering from their injuries.

Injury victims have choices they must make after they are injured in an accident; they can chose to settle with the driver’s insurer or initiate a lawsuit to get compensation from a careless driver. Accident victims really must speak with a Dayton injury attorney before making such an important decision.

Reports state that the driver of a silver Honda was traveling west when they tried to avoid colliding with a van that had just pulled out in front of their vehicle. While trying to avoid that initial collision, the Honda sideswiped a large Ford pickup truck hauling a utility trailer, Utah Highway Patrol said.

The impact of the collision caused the truck to roll over, ejecting one of the three passengers, none of who were wearing their seat belts.

According to the Deseret News, one of the truck passengers, a man in his 50 was briefly pinned in the truck. The driver of the truck, a man in his 30s was also injured. They were taken to a local hospital with minor injuries.

The passenger that was ejected was a woman in her 20s and she sustained critical injuries. Police did not state what injuries this young woman suffered.

The Honda driver was also suffered minor injuries but was not hospitalized.

Police were forced to close down the westbound lanes of I-215 for a couple of hours while they investigated.

It is unclear what type of injuries the woman who was thrown from the truck suffered, but often in accidents involving an ejection the victims suffer from broken bones, spine and back injuries, and traumatic brain injuries.

All of these injuries, especially spine and brain injuries require extensive rehabilitation. The people suffering from these injuries often have to relearn skills that once came naturally. They can be in rehabilitation for months or years.

In the worst cases, personal injury victims can become paralyzed or suffer permanent brain damage. They will never be able to have their former lives back and must adjust to their new lives, which can cause them incalculable emotional distress and anger.

All of these injuries can lead to temporary or permanent disability and can be extremely costly to the victims. People who suffer brain or spinal injuries can expect their medical costs to range in the tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands. Many accident victims find that their immediate and continuing medical costs to reach a million-plus.

An accident victim’s financial problems don’t end with their medical bills. These injury victims are often unable to work or earn a living for weeks or months. Some victims are hurt so badly they will never be able to return to work.

Those who are seriously harmed in a traffic collision have the legal right to pursue the person or person’s responsible for compensation. In most cases, the negligent driver’s insurance company will approach a victim immediately to offer a settlement. If the injuries and property damage are minor then a swift settlement may be appropriate for the victim. However, if the victim has catastrophic injuries they should speak with a Utah personal injury attorney before accepting a settlement.

Most people, who are involved in any type of accident, wonder if they really need to hire an attorney. The simple answer is yes; hire a personal injury attorney even if you don’t have intentions of pursuing a court case.

Past studies have shown that people who have legal representation walk away with more compensation than those who don’t hire an attorney even after the legal fees are paid.

Insurance companies are not on the personal injury victim’s side, they are primarily concerned with making their shareholders happy. And their main objective is to make a profit which is maximized when they pay as little for an insurance claim as possible.

Insurance companies employee numerous adjustors, investigators, and attorneys to work for them so you, as the victim, also need someone with knowledge and expertise when trying to secure a fair financial settlement for your pain and suffering. A South Carolina personal injury attorney is aware of the true value of your injury claim.

By hiring an injury attorney, you are sending a signal to the negligent party’s insurance company that you won’t settle for less than you deserve and having legal representation assures you won’t be taken advantage of in negotiations with the person responsible for your injuries and their insurer.

Never speak to the insurance company without speaking to your attorney first; the insurer wants to minimize their liability and increase their profits, so anything you say has the potential of damaging your case.  Since your attorney better understands the language of the law always allow them to speak for you.

In South Carolina establishing negligence is the most important aspect of any personal injury lawsuit. To be eligible for compensation the victim must prove that the party that caused your injuries had a responsibility not to injure them and failed to live up to that duty. Also, the victim must prove there is a connection between the negligent party’s responsibility and the victim’s injuries and you suffered emotional and monetary losses as a result of the accident.

Once you have been involved in an accident, it’s critical that you contact an attorney immediately; you have a limited amount of time to file for a claim. In South Carolina, personal injury suits must be filed within 3 years from the date the injury occurred.

This gives your legal representative the opportunity to gather evidence and speak with witnesses while the incident is still fresh in their minds, allowing them to firmly establish who was negligent and responsible for a victim’s injuries. The longer an attorney has to work on the case the better chance they have of getting you a generous settlement that adequately compensates you for the suffering you’ve endured.

According to local NBC affiliate 15TV, police responded to an accident on Saturday, April 28^th at the intersection of St. Francis Street and North Bayou Street around 11:45. When they arrived they found Edward Lindsey Mack, 60, lying in the street unconscious, but he later died at the scene.

Police say that Alexander Graff, 29, struck Mack in St. Francis Street. He remained on the scene and police detected the odor of alcohol, AOL News reported.

Graff was placed under arrest for suspicion of DUI and vehicular manslaughter. Cpl. Christopher Levy, public relations officer for the Mobile Police Department would not comment on Graff’s blood alcohol level stating it was a matter for the courts, according to AOL.

Graff has previous alcohol-related arrests. In 2006 he was arrested for DUI with a blood alcohol level of .016. He pleaded guilty to that charge and was on probation for one year.

Police are trying to determine if Mack was wearing the proper safety gear at the time of accident since the responding officers did not included that information in their initial report.

The Centers For Disease Control estimates that almost one-third of all fatal accidents nationwide are caused by drivers under the influence. Alcohol-related crashes cost an average of $51 billion annually, the NHTSA reports.

Losing a loved one in a traffic accident is one of the most shocking things a family can go through, especially if their death was caused by a negligent driver. The families of accident victims are left to deal their grief while also struggling to figure out how they are going to pay for the many costs associated with a traffic accident. In many cases, the person killed in traffic accident is the primary provider for their family.

The families of fatal accident victims have the expectation that the responsible party will pay for their medical and funeral expenses along with property damage. Even though accident settlements are often paid for by the negligent driver’s insurance companies, accident victims and their families should always consult with a wrongful death or injury attorney before agreeing to a settlement amount. Injury victims who have legal representation are able to obtain settlements that are two to three times larger than those who have no lawyer.

These victims also have the right to seek a larger settlement by pursing a civil case, but Alabama laws relating to wrongful death are complicated. Unlike other states, wrongful death victims in Alabama can only seek compensatory damages, which means a jury cannot award a victim’s loved ones compensation for lost wages or the mental anguish the victim suffered before death.

Timing in all accident cases, whether they involve catastrophic injuries or a wrongful death caused by a traffic collision, an industrial accident, defective product, or medical malpractice, is crucial. If you plan to file a wrongful death or personal injury suit, don’t do it alone, contact an Mobile injury attorney to help.

The blaze erupted around 10 p.m. as the stretch limo was crossing the 7 mile San Mateo- Hayward Bridge.

The driver of the limo Orville Brown told the San Francisco Chronicle that he heard the women yelling “Smoke, Smoke,” but the he was confused, the loud music made it difficult for him to understand what the women.

“They had the music up in the back, and I figured she was asking, ‘Can I smoke?’” Brown said. “I said, ‘The owner doesn’t allow smoking in the car, and we only have four minutes to the destination.’”

Finally, Brown realized they were yelling for him to pull over which he did, but it was too late for some most of the women.  The driver says it only took him 30 seconds to pull over once he realized the back was filling up with smoke.

After pulling over Brown helped four of the women out of the vehicle through the partition. The first woman out ran to open the open a one of the back passengers doors, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

“When she opened that back door, I knew it wasn’t a good scene. I figured with all that fire that they were gone, man,” Brown said in an interview. “There were just so many flames. Within maybe 90 seconds, the car was fully engulfed.”

Once the blaze was extinguished, emergency crews found the bodies of four women, who were huddled near the partition, San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault told reporters. “They were there on top of each other and doing what they could to get out,” Foucrault said.

Among the deceased were Neriza Fojas, 31, a registered nurse who was celebrating her marriage. Fojas and her friends were headed to a nearby hotel for a wedding celebration where her husband was waiting. The couple was about to embark on a trip to Fojas’ native Philippines to have another wedding ceremony in front of family.

According to California Highway Patrol, the four injured women were taken to area hospitals to be treated for burns and smoke inhalation. Two of the women, Jasmine Desguia, 34, of San Jose, and Amalia Loyola, 48, of San Leandro were listed critical condition.

Investigators are trying to figure out what caused the fire, the limo was not involved an accident.

Brown is an experienced commercial driver, but had only worked with the limo company for a couple of months, the Chronicle reported. The company he was working for Limo Stop is licensed and insured, but it is unclear if they have any previous safety violations, but they still may be liable for the injuries and wrongful deaths.

Limo Stop released a statement which said, “Limo Stop, Inc. will do everything possible to investigate and assist authorities in determining the cause of this fire in order to bring forth answers and provide closure to (the) victims and their families,” adding they were “deeply saddened” by the tragedy.

The bills will cap lifetime benefits for those who are critically injured to $1 million, ending unlimited benefits for these personal injury victims, the Lansing State Journal reported.

Changing the no-fault insurance laws would save Michigan drivers up to a $125 a year once the bill is enacted.  Those who approve of the bills including AAA note that Michigan is the only state that has no lifetime cap on catastrophic injury benefits and also has the highest insurance rates of any state.

According the Lansing Journal, Heather Drake of AAA said the bills would ensure that healthcare providers charge insurance companies the same as other payers, citing a case where Spectrum Health in Michigan charged $403,870 for an accident victim’s 30 day stay, but the same stay under workman’s comp would be half that she told the House Committee.

“The cost shouldn’t vary depending on who is paying the bill,” Drake said according to the Lansing Journal.

But is this punishing the victims for the actions of health care providers?

The committee heard weeks of testimony from accident victims who have been permanently disabled. Many of those who testified were in wheelchairs or suffered from traumatic brain injuries.

Accident victims who are paralyzed or suffered traumatic brain injuries can easily rack up a million dollars in medical bills in a very short period of time. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that the short- and long-term care for brain injury sufferers cost $75 billion annually.

Former state Representative for St. Charles, Jim Howell testified before the committee relating the story of his son Sam, who suffered a brain injury just before he was about to attend Harvard Medical School.

“My precious son Sam wouldn’t have survived without no-fault. He went through $1 million in less than a month,” Howell said.

With the rising costs of healthcare, many of these accident victims could face financial ruin if these bills managed to get passed. An estimated half of all personal bankruptcies in America are caused by medical bills.

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, who is a wheelchair because of a traffic accident, explained the plight of catastrophic injury victims, “One million dollars will be quickly depleted, and the patient will then be facing personal bankruptcy as family and loved ones exhausts their family assets to care for him. He ultimately becomes a ward of the state, and the taxpayers underwrite the patient’s future care through the Medicaid system.”

Medical bills are just one of the challenges that accident victims who suffer catastrophic injuries face, in many cases these individuals will never be able to work or support themselves again and depend on personal injury settlements to give them a quality life.

The accident occurred on I-10 near Tallahassee just after 3 a.m. The teacher, 22 year-old Abby Fisher was traveling west on 1-10 when for some unknown reason she drifted into the eastbound lanes and collided head on with the charter bus, according to the Tallahassee News Press.com. Fishburn was pronounced dead on the scene.

A statement from Dolphin Transport, who owns the bus, said that 48 students were on the bus and at least 17 people including the bus driver sustained a range of injuries, mostly minor.

The bus driver, who has been identified as Johnny Brutus of Naples, will require foot surgery, but most of the injured students were released from the hospital Wednesday.

Dolphin Transport said the students were traveling from Pensacola to Collier after competing in a USA Skills Competition. Dolphin also said they would ensure that arrangements are made to get the students home safely.

Police closed 1-10 for several hours as they conducted their investigation. Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. James Shaw said they were conducting a blood test to determine of Fishburn was intoxicated at the time of the accident, adding that it was standard procedure in fatal accidents.

Fishburn just began her job as a science teacher at Deerlake Middle School after graduating from Florida State University.

It is possible that Fishburn was intoxicated, but another likely scenario is that she may have fallen asleep at the wheel. Fatigued driving is surprisingly common as well as very dangerous.

Last year a charter bus driver, Ophadell Williams, was carrying passengers from a casino in Connecticut back to Chinatown when he lost control of the bus killing 15 people and injuring 18.

Witnesses on the bus said Williams was driving erratically prior to the accident, leading them to believe he was exhausted. The black box on the bus showed that Williams didn’t even hit the brakes prior to colliding with a highway sign that sheared the top of the bus, flinging passengers around the cabin and onto the roadway.

Some of the victims lost limbs and became permanently disabled.

During a criminal trial where Williams was facing multiple charges of vehicle manslaughter, the prosecutor equated fatigued driving to drunk driving. Williams was ultimately acquitted of vehicle manslaughter, absolving him of any criminal negligence,

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, an estimated 100,000 reported traffic crashes are caused by drowsy drivers. Those crashes result in $12.5 billion in annual costs, 170,000 personal injuries and an estimated 1,500 deaths.

A 2001 study conducted by the National Safety Foundation, found that at least 27 percent of adults over the age of 18 admitted to drowsy driving at least once in a month’s time. Drowsy driving is just as dangerous as drunk or distracted driving, so drivers who are too tired to keep their eyes open should pull over and save theirs or another person’s life.