Senate committee on transportation and housing

SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING

2015 - 2016 Regular

DIGEST: This bill makes it a crime to sell or install a counterfeit airbag or sell or install any device which causes the vehicle’s diagnostic system to fail to warn when the vehicle is equipped with a counterfeit airbag.

1. 
   Prohibits tampering with a vehicle’s computer system or supplemental restraint system to falsely indicate the systems are in working order
   

2. 
   Prohibits selling a previously deployed air bag that no longer functions as originally intended.
   
   
   

1. 
   A prohibition against knowingly and intentionally manufacturing, importing, installing, distributing, and selling any device intended to replace a supplemental restraint system component (e.g., airbag) if the device is counterfeit or a nonfunctional airbag or does not meet applicable federal safety requirements.
   

2. 
   A prohibition against knowingly and intentionally selling or installing any device that causes the vehicle’s diagnostic systems to fail to warn when the vehicle is equipped with a counterfeit supplemental restraint system component or nonfunctional airbag.
   

Violating these prohibitions is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 or by imprisonment in a county jail for up to one year, or both.

1. 
   Purpose. AB 2387 is a consumer protection measure. It strengthens existing laws aimed at deterring the fraudulent distribution and installation of counterfeit airbags by more clearly defining key terms and increasing the penalty for knowingly exposing the public to this potentially deadly hazard.
   

2. 
   Huge problem. Airbags are an essential component of modern vehicle safety systems, helping ensure that the occupants’ heads and upper bodies do not strike the vehicle interior in a crash. Beginning in 2008, airbags made by Takata were recalled because of concerns that airbag deployment could injure the car occupants. Originally limited to Honda, the recall was expanded to 14 car manufacturers and as many as 68.8 million airbags in what the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) called the largest and most complex safety recall in history. As these airbags are replaced, problems have arisen with the use of counterfeit airbags which don’t provide adequate protection. In October 2012, the NHTSA issued an advisory warning about the dangers of counterfeit airbags.
   

3. 
   Other states leading. The problem of counterfeit airbags has led 10 states to enact legislation to prohibit the use of counterfeit airbags, including Ohio, Texas, New York, and Florida. The Council of State Governments proposed model legislation to make it a crime to manufacture, import, or install a nonfunctional or counterfeit airbag.
   

4. 
   Closing a loophole. This bill closes a loophole in current law which does not address counterfeit airbags. Recent reports indicate that several car manufacturers sell new cars with recalled airbags. That circumstance is not addressed in this bill.
   

5. 
   Double-referral. This bill has been double referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
   

1. 
   Tampering with a vehicle’s computer system or supplemental restraint system to falsely indicate the systems are in working order
   

2. 
   Selling a previously deployed air bag that no longer functions as originally intended.
   

POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on Wednesday,

June 8, 2016.)

SUPPORT:

Auto Alliance

Automobile Club of Southern California

Automobile Association of Southern California

California Association of Highway Patrolmen

California Professional Firefighters

Coalition Against Insurance Fraud

Ford

Global Automakers

Honda

Los Angeles County District Attorney
OPPOSITION:
None received

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cache -> Assembly third reading atr bill Id: ab 36
cache -> Uk metadata Report 2013
cache -> Assembly committee on health jim Wood, Chair sbpca bill Id: sb 908
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