Utah Department of Transportation’s Zero Fatalities campaign brought together the 25 families who lost a child in a car accident, reports Fox13 News. For those who have lost an child in a car accident, it can undoubtedly be a heart wrenching experience, and these family connected in hopes of alerting and educating Utahans be more alert to the dangers of inattentive driving.

My thoughts and prayers are with these families in dealing with their devastating loss.

Unlike most accident stories where human injury is the main problem, St. George experienced a new type of situation, when an overturned semi-truck released an estimated 25 million bees, KSL News reports. The biggest problem they had was getting the correct colony boxes next to each other,  Casey Lofthouse, Washington County bee inspector informs. When bees from different colonies are together they will attack and kill each other. About two-thirds of the bees were recovered, thanks to local beekeepers who came together to help the out-of-state owner.

Ron Kramer is an accident and injury lawyer who practices auto accident law throughout the state of Utah.

Although many states have previously required a medical examiner to be at the scene of a fatal vehicle accident, Utah has previously not required one, which is likely to change reports KSL News. “The cause of death is not always apparent,” tell Utah Highway Patrol Maj. Michael Rapich.

Having a medical examiner on the scene of the accident helps Utahns in more than one way. First, they can help put the correct causation to the death, i.e. a toxicology report can help pinpoint whether the death was caused by chemical or natural causes. Second, it can help the family and relatives speed up the legal process. Getting a death certificate and an insurance payout can be a cumbersome process, especially if trying to get the necessary paperwork from a hospital emergency room, which are usually too busy with patients who have not already passed. Having a medical examiner present helps prevent the “legal limbo” that is created with a situation where the proper documentation wasn’t done soon enough, and also helps free up “time and resources at the hospital.”

Utah accident Victims can now order their accident reports online. Utahans, who have a history of being tech-savvy, have kept with this trend reports the Standard-Examiner. Utah Highway Patrol reports over 56,000 accidents annually, and are “very excited to offer this valuable service to our citizens,” said Commissioner Davenport of the Utah Department of Public Safety.

In the past, an accident victim has had to personally visit the law enforcement station in order to get a copy of their accident report. Now, after a few simple verifying steps, it can easily be accessed and printed online. Currently, all state-level accident reports are available at http://crashreport.utah.gov, but U.H.P. is hoping (and encouraging) county-level law enforcement agencies to join.

Kramer Law Group, is a personal injury firm who specializes in helping accident victims receive a fair amount of compensation from insurance companies. We offer free consultations to anyone with questions about their accident, and have also made available a free copy of The Utah Accident Book.

The decision to fire your attorney should not be taken lightly. You must first weigh the consequences and decide if it’s still worth it. I’ve talked with several people who want to fire their present attorneys because they believe that they are not doing their job. Often attorneys will have a “lien” if they have already put effort into resolving your Utah accident and injury claim. You should look at your retainer agreement to verify if there is a possible lien. Typically, agreements entitle the attorney to have a lien of 30% on cases that they receive a settlement offer on. Also, attorneys are entitled to make a claim on the value of their time that they have put into the case. Even 20 hours of work is substantial considering attorneys can charge upwards of $200 an hour for their services.

The problem arises when you attempt to find another attorney who will take your case with a lien attached. The second attorney will basically be working for the first attorney who has the lien attached. Unless the lien is well below the normal value, most attorneys prefer to avoid working on a case with an lien. You should always consider who will take-on your case after you fire your attorney. Do you have an exit plan? Is there an attorney willing to work with an attached lien?

If you decide to fire your attorney, I suggest you do it when the case is first beginning. When there is no offer on the table, the lien will be much less and often attorneys will wave the lien if the case is in its early stages.

Now that you’ve considered the advantages and disadvantages, how do you actually fire your attorney? The quickest way is to call them up and tell and tell them they’re fired. Ask them for a copy of your file. Be prepared to defend you decision because attorneys will likely try to talk you out of it. If you are firm in your decision, stand your ground and don’t budge.

If a telephone conversation does not appeal to you, you can send them a letter. In the letter you should let them know they you are firing them and request a copy of your file. Giving an explanation is not necessary but I would recommend providing an explanation in cases where you believe they weren’t doing their job. This will make it less likely that they will try to impose a lien.

Remember that you are entitled to a copy of your file. Do not allow the attorney’s office to tell you that you can’t have the file and do not let them tell you that you have to pay the attorney lien before they will give you your file. If they do this, tell them you will be contacting the Utah State Bar- and they just might change their mind!

Ron Kramer is a Utah accident and injury attorney that has years of experience representing the injured all throughout the state.