ASA Leaders Meet with NHTSA Officials to Discuss Airbag Safety

Automotive Service Association (ASA) leaders met recently with the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) officials in Washington, D.C. The ASA delegates discussed the usage of used and salvage airbags and the issue of airbag covers with NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigations (ODI).

Posted June 29, 2005, 9 a.m. EST

WASHINGTON, DC — Automotive Service Association (ASA) leaders met recently with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) officials in Washington, D.C.

The ASA delegates discussed the usage of used and salvage airbags and the issue of airbag covers with NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigations (ODI). ODI officials announced that so far there has been no evidence to determine a trend in salvage or used airbags and they have no way of determining the number of airbags in a crash that are used or salvaged.

ODI officials recommended that independent repairers should contact the agency when they observe occurrences of used or salvage airbags being used in vehicle repair. They also suggested that repairers contact them when they observe trends in repairing the same vehicle model with the same repair concerns.

ASA officials in attendance included Ron Pyle, president and chief staff executive; Charlie Elder, AAM, Ray Gordon Brake Service, Tallahassee, FL., ASA chairman-elect and chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee (GAC); Ron Nagy, AAM, affiliate director and GAC member, Nagy’s Body & Frame Shop, Doylestown, OH; GAC members Eddie Ehlert, Mazdonly Ltd., Chamblee, GA.; Bob Wills, Wills Auto Service, Battle Creek, MI.; Mike West, Southtowne Auto Rebuild, Tukwila, WA.; and Bob Redding, ASA’s Washington, D.C., representative.

“The agency was open to ASA’s concerns on used airbags and airbag covers and agreed to look at the matters further. We are pleased to have opened the door to communication on these important issues with NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation,” said Redding.

“ODI also believes that independent repairers can serve as the first line of defense when problems arise in vehicles and is interested in independent repairers’ input relative to trends in specific repair issues,” added Redding.

The General Accounting Office, in an investigative report requested by the U.S. Congress, stated in January 2001: “NHTSA has more limited authority to regulate the use of recycled airbags. NHTSA could elect to develop safety standards for occupant restraint systems under the used vehicle provisions of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act. These standards could apply to systems containing recycled airbags, but the standards would apply to the restraint system as a whole and not to its individual components.”

_______________________________________

Click here to view the rest of today’s headlines.