Bill Text: PA HB2650 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Imposing penalties on certain fraudulent practices relating to motor vehicle airbag installation and reinstallation; providing for duties of persons buying, selling and installing airbags, for recordkeeping requirements and for duty to disclose nonoperational airbags.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 15)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-07-14 - Referred to TRANSPORTATION [HB2650 Detail]

Download: Pennsylvania-2009-HB2650-Introduced.html

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PRINTER'S NO. 4107
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No. 2650 Session of2010
INTRODUCED BY BRADFORD, BOYLE, BROWN, BUXTON, CALTAGIRONE, DEASY, JOHNSON, KESSLER, KORTZ, MATZIE, MIRABITO, M. O'BRIEN, SANTARSIERO, SIPTROTH AND YOUNGBLOOD, JULY 14, 2010
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION, JULY 14, 2010
AN ACT
Imposing penalties on certain fraudulent practices relating to
motor vehicle airbag installation and reinstallation;
providing for duties of persons buying, selling and
installing airbags, for recordkeeping requirements and for
duty to disclose nonoperational airbags.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Motor Vehicle
Airbag Fraud Prevention Act.
Section 2. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Airbag." A component of an inflatable occupant restraint
system of a motor vehicle that is designed in accordance with
Federal safety regulations for the make, model and year of the
motor vehicle to be installed and to operate in the motor
vehicle to activate, as specified by the motor vehicle
manufacturer, in the event of a crash. The term includes, but is
not limited to, sensors, controllers, wiring and inflatable bag
of the system.
"Department." The Department of Transportation of the
Commonwealth.
"Light manipulating system." Anything that would mask or
cause the inaccurate indication of an airbag system status,
condition or operability.
"Salvaged airbag." An OEM nondeployed airbag that has been
removed from a motor vehicle for use in another motor vehicle.
"VIN." Vehicle identification number.
Section 3. Installation or reinstallation of any false airbag.
(a) Deceptive trade practice.--It is a deceptive trade
practice for a person to:
(1) install or reinstall, as part of a motor vehicle
inflatable occupant restraint system, an object in lieu of an
airbag, including a light manipulating system;
(2) sell or offer for sale any device with the intent
that the device will replace an airbag in any motor vehicle
if the person knows or reasonably should know that the device
does not meet Federal safety requirements;
(3) sell or offer for sale any device that when
installed in a motor vehicle gives the impression that an
operable airbag is installed in that motor vehicle, including
any light manipulating system; or
(4) intentionally misrepresent the presence of an airbag
when one does not exist.
Section 4. Airbag antitheft.
(a) Purchase, sale or installation of new or salvaged
airbag.--
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(1) A person engaged in the business of purchasing,
selling or installing salvaged airbags shall maintain a
manual or electronic record of the purchase, sale or
installation, which must include the identification number of
the airbag; the VIN of the vehicle from which the salvaged
airbag was removed; the name, address and driver's license
number or other means of identification of the person from
whom the salvaged airbag was purchased; and in the event that
the salvaged airbag is installed, the VIN of the motor
vehicle into which the airbag is installed. No new or
salvaged airbag shall be sold or installed which is or has
been subject to a specific manufacturer's or appropriate
authority's notice of recall.
(2) (i) A person engaged in the business of installing
a new replacement airbag shall maintain the name and tax
identification number of the supplier of the airbag and
record the VIN of the motor vehicle into which the airbag
is installed, as well as the identification number of the
airbag being installed. The identification number of the
previously deployed airbag being replaced shall be
recorded.
(ii) Upon request of any law enforcement officer of
this Commonwealth or other authorized representative of
the agency charged with administration of this section,
the installer shall produce such records and permit said
agent or police officer to examine them.
(3) A person who installs a salvaged airbag in a motor
vehicle shall apply a permanent, durable label that clearly
states that the motor vehicle contains a salvaged airbag. The
label shall be permanently installed on the dashboard of the
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motor vehicle.
(4) A person who sells a salvaged airbag or who installs
a salvaged airbag shall disclose to the purchaser and motor
vehicle owner that the airbag is salvaged.
(5) A person who installs a new or salvaged airbag shall
submit an affidavit to the motor vehicle owner or the owner's
representative stating that the replacement airbag has been
properly installed.
(6) All records shall be maintained for not less than
five years following the transaction and may be inspected
during normal business hours by any law enforcement officer
of this Commonwealth or other authorized representative of
the department.
(7) Upon request, information within a portion of a
record pertaining to a specific transaction shall be provided
to the insurer and the motor vehicle owner.
(8) A person engaged in the business of selling salvaged
airbags shall comply with regulations developed by the
department. The regulations shall include, but not be limited
to, the following standards:
(i) Identification of the supplier of the unit.
(ii) Identification of the recipient motor vehicle,
including VIN, year, make and model.
(iii) Identification of the airbag module cover
color and color code, if available.
(iv) Identification of the donor motor vehicle,
including VIN, year, make and model.
(v) Supplier's internal stock number or locator
number.
(vi) Indication of source of interchange information
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(i.e., interchange manual/part number, OEM information,
etc.).
(vii) A supplier certificate indicating that all the
requirements of the inspection protocol have been
successfully achieved and identifying the person who
completed the inspection.
(viii) A document containing the motor vehicle
description including the year, make and model for which
the airbag system component is required when being sold
to the end user.
(9) Salvage airbags conforming to the regulations
promulgated in accordance with paragraph (8) shall be
accompanied by a certificate of conformance which shall be
retained by the installer.
(b) Prohibition.--
It is unlawful for any person to knowingly possess, sell
or install:
(i) a stolen airbag;
(ii) an airbag from which the manufacturer's part
number labeling or VIN has been removed, altered or
defaced; or
(iii) an airbag taken from a stolen motor vehicle.
Section 5. Accident reports.
A motor vehicle accident report that is filed by an
appropriate law enforcement agency shall clearly contain a
notation as to whether the motor vehicle's airbag or inflatable
restraint system was deployed in the accident.
Section 6. Sale or trade of motor vehicle with an inoperable
airbag.
A person selling or trading a motor vehicle who has actual
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knowledge that the motor vehicle's airbag is inoperable shall
notify the buyer or the person acquiring the trade in writing
that the airbag is inoperable.
Section 7. Penalties.
Except as otherwise provided by this act:
(1) Any person who violates section 3, 4(a)(3) or (b) or
6 is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall
be punished by a fine of not less than $1,000 and not more
than $2,000 per violation, or imprisonment for up to 2 years,
or both.
(2) A person whose violation of section 3, 4(a)(3) or
(b) or 6 results in a serious bodily injury or death shall be
imprisoned for not more than 10 years or fined not more than
$100,000, or both.
(3) Any person who fails to maintain complete and
accurate records, to prepare complete and accurate documents,
to provide information from such records upon request or to
properly disclose that an airbag is salvaged, as required by
this act, commits a misdemeanor of the third degree.
Section 8. Effective date.
This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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