News Releases:
WMABA Urges Repairers to Give Opposition to Bill for Salvaged Airbags in Maryland
February 5, 2010 – Richmond, Virginia – After
repairer organizations gave strong opposition at the
National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) a model
airbag bill, although amended, was still passed for use in
individual states. The bill, intended to provide a
documentation process for the use of new and salvaged
airbags to protect consumers from airbag fraud, is now being
proposed in Maryland. The problem is that this bill will
harm consumers in many other ways.
Senate Bill 209
(Click Here to Download),
proposed by Senator Delores Kelley (D) is being touted as a
consumer protection bill. A hearing for this bill will take
place in Annapolis on Thursday, February 11th at 1pm on the
3rd floor of the Miller Senate Building. Senator Kelley is
not on the NCOIL committee, nor was a part of the
discussions surrounding this model bill.
Every repairer in Maryland should oppose this bill
because it opens the door for processes to have insurers use
salvage airbags. WMABA states that there is no viable data
for the safety of the airbag usage for our customers and
their families because we have no way of knowing the
integrity of the vehicle it was removed from, the way it was
stored, or the removal and subsequent delivery process.
Additionally, there are no vehicle manufacturers who endorse
the use of salvaged airbags, and some go as far as to state
that they could cause injury or death. Therefore, repairers
have no way of guaranteeing the crashworthiness of the
salvaged airbag and open themselves up for liability.
“Salvaged airbags can come from any vehicle, but they are
most likely to be removed from a vehicle that has been
already total lossed by an insurance company for any reason
from collision or fire to flood,” said Brad Whiteford of
Whiteford’s Collision and WMABA President. “As a repairer,
we cannot accept the liability of the salvaged airbag not
performing to OEM specifications in a subsequent crash.”
“This bill was opposed by the Society of Collision Repair
Specialists (SCRS) during the NCOIL hearings because they
feel that this language will open the state regulation for
giving a process to use salvaged airbags,” stated Jordan
Hendler, Executive Director for WMABA. “The collision repair
industry does not use these airbags, and if this language is
accepted it will give incentive for their use by insurers.
At minimum, the consumer who chooses not to use them for
safety concerns could then have additional out-of-pocket
expenses for using a new OEM airbag instead of the salvage,
where currently they do not. The possible unintended
consequences of this bill for Maryland shops and consumers
are horrendous.”
For information regarding this bill, to contact your Senator
to attend the hearing in Annapolis, please contact the WMABA
Administration office at: (804) 789-9649
The WMABA is a regional collision industry association,
currently covering the areas of Maryland, Virginia, and
Washington DC whose mission is to serve the best interests
of collision repairers through leadership, education and
initiatives that strengthen the professionalism and business
conditions for the professional collision repairer. If you
would like to find out more information about WMABA and its
activities, you can contact Executive Director Jordan
Hendler (Phone: 804-789-9649 or Email: jordanhendler@wmaba.com)
or visit its website at: http://www.wmaba.com
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WMABA Elects New Board of Directors
December 3, 2009 – Richmond, Virginia – During a recent membership meeting, the Washington Metropolitan Auto Body Association (WMABA) membership recently elected the 2010 Board of Directors who will continue the association’s initiatives into the new year.
The Board of Directors welcomes back incumbent members Brad Whiteford as President, Barry Dorn as the Vice President, John Krauss for Treasurer, Don Beaver as the Secretary and returning Directors Aaron Schulenburg, Kris Burton and Laura Gay. Torchy Chandler will continue on as the Immediate Past President and the following individuals were elected as new incoming Directors: Rodney Bolton, Geoff Brown, Ben Gibson, Dan Morrissey, and Bobby Wright.
After giving an endearing outgoing message after four years of leadership to the members at the election meeting, Immediate Past President Torchy Chandler welcomed the opportunity to have fresh perspective from a new President. She commented saying, “My four years as President was during a changing time for WMABA, with many transitions for the better. I think that the future of the association is in the hands of the Directors and members, who show knowledge and leadership skills that will grow the association in new directions for the years to come.”
Incoming President Brad Whiteford commented, “I’d first like to thank the Board for this opportunity to lead the group as the new President. I am looking forward to a great year with such a good diversity amongst the Board members. My personal goal for the upcoming year is to get further growth and expansion into the market areas outside of the Northern VA market, as well as watching the legislative activities of our region. I look forward to working with everyone.”
Two of the new Board members are educators – Rodney Bolton of Center of Applied Technologies North (MD) and Geoff Brown of Northern Virginia Community College (VA) – and one Board member is a longtime industry member and consultant – Dan Morrissey. In addition, two repairers from the Richmond area – Ben Gibson of Harrison Body Works and Bobby Wright of Burkeville Body Shop – will not only be participating on the Board but will also be assisting with the growth of the new WMABA Richmond Chapter.
WMABA is excited to usher in the 2010 Board of Directors when the industry needs strong and vibrant leadership during these tough economic times. They look forward to gearing up for a successful upcoming year.
(Photo: Left to Right - Ben Gibson, Bobby Wright, John Krauss, Barry Dorn, Rodney Bolton, Brad Whiteford, Torchy Chandler, Laura Gay, Geoff Brown, Kris Burton)
The WMABA is a regional collision industry association, currently covering the areas of Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC whose mission is to serve the best interests of collision repairers through leadership, education and initiatives that strengthen the professionalism and business conditions for the professional collision repairer. If you would like to find out more information about WMABA and its activities, you can contact Executive Director Jordan Hendler (Phone: 804-789-9649 or Email: jordanhendler@wmaba.com) or visit its website at: http://www.wmaba.com
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WMABA Announces New Richmond Chapter
October 29, 2009 – Richmond, Virginia
– The Washington Metropolitan Auto Body Association (WMABA)
is proud to announce its first chapter with the creation of
the Richmond Chapter. The development of the chapter came
through the discussions held at the Meet-N-Greet meetings
WMABA has been holding in the area during recent months to
gain further participation and interest by the local
repairers.
The unanimous vote, taken by all the repairer participants
at the September 23rd meeting at Bruce’s Super Body Shop in
Richmond, shows how much they wanted this chapter to happen.
The association knows that the key to having strength in
moving forward is growing the number of repairers that
attend and get involved.
“Richmond has needed community amongst the shops for quite
some time,” remarked Ben Gibson, owner of Harrison Body
Works in Richmond. “WMABA brings a great amount of
credibility to the Northern Virginia market, and now we’ll
have it in Richmond and should be able to make great strides
with their help. We hope all of the Richmond shops will
rally around the causes of the industry through this effort,
so we can make a real difference.”
The new chapter will be having a meeting on November 10th at
6:00pm at Dominion Auto Group in Richmond, VA to discuss
their governing structure and what initiatives they would
like to address during future meetings.
“We had many current members of the association asking us to
bring more awareness and education to the shops here,”
commented WMABA executive director Jordan Hendler. “WMABA is
excited that the recent addition of the Richmond Chapter
will spur other areas to get together with the same purpose
in mind, such as in the Norfolk/Hampton or Baltimore areas.
This grows the membership base as well as strengthens the
relationships that repairers have amongst each other in that
region. Where there is strength in numbers, there is unity
on some of the major issues that they face daily.”
If you have interest in attending the upcoming chapter
meeting, go to
http://www.wmaba.com and view the meeting
information on the Calendar page or call the WMABA office at
(804) 789-9649.
The WMABA is a regional collision industry association,
currently covering the areas of Maryland, Virginia, and
Washington DC whose mission is to serve the best interests
of collision repairers through leadership, education and
initiatives that strengthen the professionalism and business
conditions for the professional collision repairer. If you
would like to find out more information about WMABA and its
activities, you can contact Executive Director Jordan
Hendler (Phone: 804-789-9649 or Email:
jordanhendler@wmaba.com ) or visit its website at:
http://www.wmaba.com
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