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NU Online News Service, Nov. 24, 10:35 a.m. EST
The National Conference of Insurance Legislators said it has adopted a model act for state lawmakers designed to discourage faulty airbag repairs and airbag theft.
Action by the group came at its annual meeting in New Orleans.
NCOIL said approval for the proposed “Act Regarding Auto Airbag Fraud” followed three special meetings and a series of conference calls over the last five months.
NCOIL’s Property-Casualty Insurance Committee voted 20-5 for the measure, which was followed by unanimous Executive Committee adoption.
The NCOIL model bill, sponsored by Rhode Island State Rep. Brian Kennedy, D-Hopkinton, would make it a felony to possess or sell a stolen airbag and to fraudulently install or reinstall an airbag.
Any incidence of death or injury after a false representation that an airbag had been installed would result in heavier penalties.
It comes in the wake of reports of shoddy repairs, where airbags have in some cases not been replaced in their housing at all, and on the heels of increasing numbers of thefts of expensive airbag equipment.
The bill would require firms doing airbag repair to keep detailed records of identification numbers of salvaged airbags and the cars they come from, and to paste a label on any car that had a replacement airbag in it. Failure to maintain complete and accurate records and to properly disclose that an airbag is salvaged would be a misdemeanor
Repair facilities would have to submit an affidavit to a vehicle owner saying that an airbag was installed properly.
The bill also, among other things, would have police accident reports note whether an airbag deployed and would require a person trading or selling a motor vehicle to disclose whether an airbag was inoperable.
NCOIL said prior to adoption of the model, the Property Casualty Committee passed two amendments that responded to concerns regarding the use of allegedly unsafe salvaged airbags.
• The first amendment would require repair facilities to place a permanent label on a dashboard indicating that the facility had installed a salvaged airbag.
• The second amendment added a drafting note to the model law that said a state should consider allowing a regulator to adopt a protocol to insure that only salvaged airbags that have met specific criteria are used.
Because they had not been submitted 30 days prior to the annual meeting, both amendments were subject to two-thirds votes for consideration and subsequent two-thirds votes for Committee adoption.
In announcing passage of the bill, the committee’s chair--Tennessee State Rep. Charles Curtiss, D-Sparta—commented that “as a result of this model, states will be better prepared to ensure the safety of consumers through disclosure, transparency and tough penalties for those who commit fraud.”
“The intensity of our discussions and the strong, ongoing participation of interested parties prove the importance of this issue and the need for swift state enactment of the model,” he added.
NCOIL said comments during development of the measure came from representatives of the Alliance of Automotive Manufacturers, American Insurance Association, Association of International Automobile Manufacturers, Automotive Occupant Restraints Council, Automotive Recyclers Association, Automotive Services Association, Certified Automotive Parts Association, Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, LKQ Corp., and Society for Collision Repair Specialists.
A proposed Model Act Regarding Motor Vehicle Crash Parts and Repair has been held for consideration at the March 5-7 Spring Meeting in Charleston, S.C., NCOIL said.