GADSDEN COUNTY, Fla. – Gov. Rick Scott is pushing lawmakers to pass legislation cracking down on auto-insurance fraud in the state's PIP, or Personal Injury Protection system.

On Thursday, Scott and CFO Jeff Atwater saw first hand just how scammers are crashing cars and stealing cash.

The Florida Highway Patrol staged three different accidents during a demonstration in Gadsden County.

“This is a billion dollar fraud on the citizens of our state,” Gov. Scott said, “money that should be back in their hands. Not in somebody that's running a clinic, taking advantage of the system, lawyers that are taking advantage of the system.”

Fraud is driving up the cost of insurance premiums.  According to the Insurance Information Institute, a Florida driver pays an extra 58 dollars per year because of auto-insurance fraud.

Despite an 8% decrease in Florida car crashes since 2006, Atwater says PIP claims have gone up 40%. He blames people faking car crashes and over billing.

The governor on Thursday came out in support of a House measure to combat the fraud.

The House's plan requires those hurt in a wreck to go to a hospital emergency room within 72 hours of the crash, caps attorneys’ fees and eliminates PIP payments for chiropractor and massage therapist care.

Consumer, medical and legal advocates came out against the House's proposal Thursday.

"It limits the consumer's choice of selecting the doctor you want to go to, it mandates that you have to go to the emergency room,” said Bill Newton with the Florida Consumer Action Network, “it restricts the window of treatment."

They prefer the Senate's version on PIP reform; tightening restrictions on pain clinics, eliminating acupuncture and massage therapy as treatments and requiring more detailed police reports after a crash.