UNINTENTIONAL DEATHS: The leading cause of “Unintentional Deaths“ (which were caused by motor vehicle in the United States in the year 2004) will be over 50,000. As the clock ticked away the death caused by such a crash took place almost every 13 minutes!

Recently published statistics prove that there was a disabling injury every 14 seconds and 5.4 million persons were injured in over 19 million crashes!

Motor vehicle crashes were the leading reason for deaths to those from the age of 1 to 33. The groups most affected by motor vehicle crashes were 15 through 24 and then, later on down that age-pike, from 75 and up.

THE “CRASH-DEMON” ALCOHOL: In 2004 crashes, in which alcohol was the cause, resulted in over 17,000 fatalities, over 500,000 nonfatal injuries and total damages of nearly 54 billion dollars in economic loss. (Statistics reveal that 1 our of every 10 Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related traffic accident at some time in their lives).

“PROPERTY-DAMAGE-ONLY” CRASHES: These costs came to a whopping 61 billion dollars!

DAMAGES CAUSED BY THE OTHER “CRASH-DEMON” SPEED: Recent statistics show that exceeding the legal speed limit (and/or driving too fast for existing conditions) cost over 43 billion dollars.

In 2004 speed related crashes will be associated with over 13,000 fatalities and over 700,000 nonfatal injuries.

THREE 2003 MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT “PREDICTIONS” ~ MADE BY AUTO ACCIDENT EXPERTS ~

WHICH WERE TO TAKE PLACE IN 2004

“PREDICTION” #1. “About 284,000 distracted drivers will be in serious crashes in 2003.Almost 30% will be distracted by something outside the vehicle, like for example, adjusting the radio/cassette or CD or another passenger in the vehicle“.

THE RESULTS: They were a bit short because over 300,000 of the so-called “Distracted Driver” serious crashes will have occurred in 2004!

“PREDICTION” #2. “A death will occur in a motor-vehicle crash every 12 minutes and a serious injury every 14 seconds“.

THE RESULTS : This one was just about “Right-On-The-Money”!

“PREDICTION” #3. “More than 4.9 million people will be rushed to and treated in hospital emergency departments because of a motor vehicle accident”.

THE RESULTS: This prediction will be a bit short because there were over 5 million people treated in hospital emergency departments because of a motor vehicle accident!

SO, YOU ASK: “What‘s the bottom line to all of the above?”

THE ANSWER TO THAT IS VERY SIMPLE: “Beer, whiskey, wine, gin, gasoline and speed create a deadly mixture that cause an Incredible Loss of multi-billions of dollars, far too many deaths and a terrible destruction to all Americans”.

I spent over 3 1/2 decades of my life investigating, and being involved in, all types of motor vehicle accidents - - automobile, truck, motorcycle, you name it! If it had wheels, was driven by a motor and had an accident, that’s what I did. First as an Insurance Adjuster, promoted to Supervisor and then Claims Manager. After that I spent the last 5 years as a Trial Assistant.

I worked my way through college at a Private Investigation Agency where I was assigned to work on motor vehicle accident claims. Then I was drafted into the U.S. Navy where I investigated serious military motor vehicle accidents in the Mid-West. After several years of that, I was discharged and went to work within the insurance claims industry.

For so many years I was involved in motor vehicle accidents and I know, absolutely and positively: Nothing has changed. Booze and speed was, and continues to be, the Number #1 and #2 “Combined Reasons” for motor vehicle accidents and the incredible financial, physical and mental toll they take on all of us!

To get this point across, even if we’ve got to be “A pain in the neck” - - harping away at our children, our family and our fiends over and over again, “The mixture of booze the speed has got to stop“!

We must set and be good examples. We’ve got to slow down ourselves and we positively must not drink and drive!

If we don’t than these awful statistics will continue to rise (as they have now, ever-constantly, for over the past 60 years) straight up, into the stratosphere!

DISCLAIMER: The only purpose of this article SEVERAL CRUCIAL 2004 “CRASH FACTS” is to help people understand the motor vehicle accident claim process. Neither Dan Baldyga, Aaron Putnam nor LawGuru.Com purport to engage in rendering any professional or legal service; NOR to substitute for a lawyer, an insurance adjuster, or claims consultant, or the like. Whenever such help is desired it is THE INDIVIDUALS RESPONSIBILITY to obtain such services.

All of the information necessary for you to deal with and handle the above issues are spelled out within the contents of Dan Baldygas third “How To” Insurance Claim Book: AUTO ACCIDENT PERSONAL INJURY INSURANCE CLAIM (How To Evaluate And Settle Your Loss) found at http://www.autoaccidentclaims.com. This book also contains BASE (The Baldyga Auto Accident Settlement Formula). THE BASE FORMULA will tell you exactly how many dollars the “Pain and Suffering” you endured are worth!

Copyright (c) 2005 By Daniel G. Baldyga. All Rights Reserved

Dan Baldyga - Author
dbpaw@comcast.net
AUTO ACCIDENT PERSONAL INJURY INSURANCE CLAIM
(How To Evaluate And Settle Your Loss)
http://www.autoaccidentclaims.com
Dan Baldyga has a lifetime of experience in the field of motor vehicle accidents, personal injury and compensation. From 1951 thru 1955 he worked his way through college employed by a Springfield, Massachusetts detective agency, where his assignments included insurance fraud, missing persons, financial and background investigations and undercover operations. He specialized in representing major New England insurance companies, for whom he collected evidence in the inquiry of automobile accidents.

Upon graduation from American International College in 1955, where he had a scholarship and played varsity football quarterback for 4 years, Baldyga was drafted into the United States Navy where he was assigned to a “Special Unit” in Criminal Investigations. His primary duty was to travel throughout the Midwest, determining negligence and bringing to a conclusion those accident cases involving government motor vehicles. After a year he was transferred to the Orient where he worked on serious and highly complicated criminal cases.

In 1958 after serving in the Navy, he entered the world of insurance claims, where he began as an Adjuster, was promoted to Supervisor, and then to Claims Manager for 35 years. He then spent another five years of his career assisting company attorneys at court trials.

In 1968, Baldyga wrote the ground-breaking HOW TO SETTLE YOUR OWN INSURANCE CLAIM, published by Macmillan. This revolutionary concept created a heated debate within both the insurance and legal industries — because it revealed, the deep secrets surrounding the settlement of motor vehicle accident claims. This had never been done before!

Baldyga appeared on over 100 regional and national television and radio talk shows throughout the United States including the Mike Douglas Show where he made the observation, “Insurance is an ultra-conservative industry that breeds unimaginative, narrow minded men”. It took a wealth of twisting and turning to dodge the bullets fired at him from both the insurance industry and his Home Office. His innovative book sold over 200,000 copies.

His later publications also include the 1983 novel A SAILOR REMEMBERS and his second “How To” insurance claim book, SECRETS NEVER TOLD was released in 1998. Over the past decade his insurance claim articles have been published in dozens of national magazines, newsletters and e-zines reaching millions of readers.

Upon his retirement, Baldyga decided that it was time to publish the definitive guide concerning motor vehicle accident personal injury claims.

After examining mountains of statistics and confidential reports, he has created BASE (The Baldyga Auto Accident Settlement Evaluation Formula). Experts have called this personal injury evaluation method “Amazing” and “Revolutionary.” THE BASE FORMULA is ingenious, yet matter-of-fact, simple, yet accurate, and eliminates the mystery of how to place a monetary value on “Pain and Suffering” !

His new book, which goes into specific detail regarding The BASE Formula, AUTO ACCIDENT PERSONAL INJURY INSURANCE CLAIM (How To Evaluate And Settle Your Loss) can be found on the internet at either of his 2 his web sites: http://www.caraccidentclaims.com OR http://www.autoaccidentclaims.com

Once again Dan Baldyga has broken new ground in the normally dormant, unchanging landscape of motor vehicle accident insurance claims!

In our recent e-mail magazine (which can be viewed at www.visaserve.com) it was reported that Congress passed the Omnibus Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2005. On December 8th, 2004, President Bush signed the consolidated spending package containing numerous business immigration-related measures. The most salient of the provisions of the Bill make significant changes to the present H-1B and the L nonimmigrant visa categories.

The provisions of the law offer new opportunities and considerations for strategic immigrant (“green card”) and nonimmigrant planning for HR Professionals, House Counsel and other Business Professionals responsible for the immigration or recruiting function in various business organizations.

The following is a non-exhaustive overview of the provisions of the new law. The information provided in this overview is not offered as either legal advice or as our firm’s legal opinion.

New Considerations For H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Processing:

A. Reinstatement of the Department of Labor Training Fee with Modifications: The new law sets forth additional fees for employers beyond the presently designated fee of $185.00 which is the filing fee for the Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker (Form I-129).

-Reinstatement and increase of the additional fee imposed by the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998 (“ACWIA”). (The ACWIA fee sunset on October 1, 2003).

-The Omnibus Appropriations Act reinstates the Department of Labor (“DOL”) Training Fee originally implemented pursuant to ACWIA. The fee is raised to $1,500.00.

-Employers that employ no more than 25 full-time employees (determined by taking into account an organization’s affiliates or subsidiaries) shall be able to submit a reduced DOL Training Fee in the amount of $750.

-Under ACWIA, there were certain types of petitions that were exempt from the DOL Training Fee. Pursuant to the provisions of the new law, it appears that those exemptions are still in effect and that if the exemption applies the employer need not pay the new $1,500.00/$750.00 fee.

-Employers who are exempt from the $1,500.00 or $750.00 Training Fee are: institutions of higher education, primary or secondary education institutions, nonprofit entities related to an institution of higher education, nonprofit research organizations, nonprofit entities engaging in an established curriculum-related clinical training, and governmental research organizations. Also exempt from the new training fees are second or subsequent requests for extensions of stay filed by the same employer (regardless of whether the employer was or would be required to pay the training fee for the initial petition or first extension), and amended petitions not containing a request for an extension of stay or to correct a CIS error.

-The new $1,500.00 and $750.00 fee appears to apply to all petitions filed with the CIS after December 8, 2004.

B. Establishment of a New Fraud Fee: The new law creates a Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee of $500.00 to help the government finance fraud investigations.

-Pursuant to the terms of the new law, the $500.00 Fraud Fee must be paid by petitioners seeking either an initial or a transfer of either an H-1B or an L nonimmigrant visa.

-According to the provisions of the new law, any petition to amend or extend made for a beneficiary for the same organization is exempt from the Fraud Fee.

-According to the provisions of the new law, the Fraud Fee applies to petitions filed with the CIS either on, or after, March 8, 2005.

C. There are new H-1B Cap Considerations under the new law: The provisions of the new law create new and important exemptions from the annual H-1B cap (established at 65,000 by IMMACT ’90).

-The new law makes available an additional 20,000 H-1B nonimmigrant visas on a fiscal year basis for beneficiaries who have earned a Master’s Degree (or a higher degree) from a U.S. institution of higher education.

-According to the new law, once these newly prescribed 20,000 visas have been used, the CIS is required to count additional cases against the cap for the fiscal year.

-The new law permits the CIS to accept petitions on behalf of up to 20,000 beneficiaries who have earned a Master’s Degree (or higher) from a U.S. institution of higher education for FY 2005.

New Considerations For L-1 Nonimmigrant Visa Processing:

A. Establishment of a New Fraud Fee: The new law creates a Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee of $500.00 to help the government to finance fraud investigations.

-Pursuant to the terms of the new law, the $500.00 Fraud Fee must be paid by petitioners seeking either an initial or a transfer of either an H-1B or an L nonimmigrant visa.

-According to the provisions of the new law, any petition to amend or extend made for a beneficiary for the same organization is exempt from the Fraud Fee.

-According to the provisions of the new law, the Fraud Fee applies to petitions filed with the CIS either on, or after, March 8, 2005.

B. Reinstatement of one year of work for qualification under L-1A/L-1B.

-Pursuant to the new law, L-1 temporary workers must have worked for a period of one full year outside the United States for an employer with a qualifying relationship to the petitioning employer.

-This change applies to petitions for initial L-1 classification filed with USCIS on or after June 6, 2005.
B. Changes/Modifications for L-1B “specialized knowledge” worksite placement.

-In response to numerous complaints, the new law mandates that L-1B temporary workers can no longer work primarily at a worksite other than with the petitioning employer if the work will be “controlled and supervised” by a different employer or if the offsite arrangement is essentially to provide labor for hire, rather than service related to the specialized knowledge of the petitioning employer.

-This provision will apply to all L-1B petitions filed with USCIS on or after June 6, 2005

-This new provision of the law shall apply to all extensions and amendments for individuals currently in L-1 status.

New Considerations For DOL Regulatory and CIS Nonimmigrant Compliance:

The provisions of the new law re-establish the audit powers of the DOL in connection with previously designated investigations concerning violations of the law by employers under ACWIA. The new law permits the DOL to investigate non-compliant employers under a host of circumstances. Employers are reminded that it is unlawful to retaliate against employees who complain about employer’s violations of the laws.

New Considerations For H-1B Prevailing Wage Levels:

Of particular interest are the changes that the new law makes to the prevailing wage rules and regulations. Beginning on March 8, 2005, the salary offered on all H-1B petitions must be 100% of the prevailing wage or the actual wage, whichever is higher. Prior to the new law, employers could pay H-1B workers 95% of the prevailing wage. In an improvement over the way the DOL calculates the prevailing wage, new rules require the DOL to revise its wage surveys to reflect at least four levels of wages commensurate with experience, education and level of supervision, rather than the two levels currently used.

The foregoing information is very general in nature as there are presently no regulations that interpret the new law. For additional information about the new law or its potential implications, please feel free to contact us at info@visaserve.com.