Most of us will be involved in some type of automobile accident in our lifetime. In fact, death from car accidents is the number one cause of death for people aged 6 to 27. An automobile collision can occur if you hit an animal, another car, person or any type of stationary object.

If you are the victim of an automobile accident you may be able to receive compensation if the injuries you sustained are due to the negligence of another driver. Punitive damages may also be assessed if the car accident was caused by serious reckless behaviors of another driver. A serious auto collision can result in lost wages, property damage and increased medical costs for you or your family.

If you have been involved in a car accident there are several actions you should take:

• Never leave the accident scene.
• Seek medical attention for all injured individuals
• All individuals involved in the accident should provide their personal information to the police.
• Do not talk to the other drivers involved in the accident or admit guilt for the accident, the police will gather all the necessary documentation.
• If you are injured seek medical attention immediately.
• Talk to your insurance company right after the accident.
• All discussions with other insurance companies should be done by your insurance company, your personal injury attorney or the police.

It is important to talk to a personal injury attorney if you have suffered financial loss or serious injuries due to the negligence of another driver. An expert personal injury attorney has the expertise to assess the full cost of your injuries. Unfortunately, there are some injuries, such as back injuries, that may be difficult to calculate the full medical costs right after the injury occurs.

The insurance company’s goal will be to pay out as little as possible in a personal injury settlement agreement. They will have their own adjuster and investigators working for them. There is no need for you to work on your own with out the legal expertise of a personal injury attorney.

Officials in Congress are calling for a modernization of food safety laws after a recent Salmonella outbreak responsible for making 474 people ill in 43 states and killing as many as six people.

Rep. Rosa L DeLauro (D-Connecticut) said that the recent outbreak confirms the need to modernize food safety laws.

“Given the numerous food-borne illness outbreaks over the past several years, it is becoming painfully clear that the current regulatory structure is antiquated and ill-equipped to handle these extensive investigations,” stated Rep. DeLauro.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believe that they have traced the tainted peanut butter and peanut paste responsible for the most recent outbreak to Peanut Corp.’s Blakely, Georgia, plant.

Production at the plant has ceased and recalls of products made with peanut products from the plant continue.

General Mills announced Monday a recall of its LARABAR Peanut Butter Cookie flavor snack bars and JamFrakas Peanut Butter Blisscrisp flavor snack bars because they were made with peanut butter purchased from Peanut Corp., the suspected source of the contamination.

Ralcorp Frozen Bakery Products on Sunday announced its recall of all Wal-Mart “Bakery” brands of peanut butter cookies, peanut butter no-bake cookies and peanut-butter-fudge no-bake cookies.

McKee Foods also announced on Sunday a recall of its Little Debbie Peanut Butter Toasty and Peanut Butter Cheese sandwich crackers, which were manufactured for McKee by Kellogg Co.

The FDA said that recalls are not linked to any national, name-brand peanut butter. Most of the products from the Blakely plant were sued by food companies to make cookies, cereal, crackers, ice cream and candy. Some peanut butter also went to institutional food service, which supplies schools, hospitals and nursing homes.

Kellogg Co. announced Monday that it found the bacteria in one package of Austin Quality Foods Toasty Crackers with Peanut Butter, a product that had been recalled prior to the finding.

A complete list of items included in the recall is available on the FDA’s Web site.