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State Farm
has appealed this decision. In light of the decision, State Farm
has suspended its specification of aftermarket crash parts in
repairs.
Concerns have also been raised about the safety of replacing deployed
airbags with nondeployed airbags taken from old or otherwise damaged
vehicles. Many maintain that the airbag is such an important safety
item that only new bags produced by the original manufacturer
should be used to replace deployed bags. Others contend that recycled
airbags pose no safety issues when properly handled and installed
and that their use can save the consumer hundreds of dollars in
repair costs.
Because of potential concerns about the safety of aftermarket
crash parts and recycled airbags, you asked us to provide information
on
- studies on the
safety of aftermarket crash parts and recycled airbags,
- NHTSA’s authority
over aftermarket crash parts and recycled airbags, and
- NHTSA’s ability
to identify and remove unsafe aftermarket crash parts and recycled
airbags from the nation’s roadways.
To respond
to these questions, we identified and reviewed existing safety
studies on aftermarket crash parts and recycled airbags; reviewed
NHTSA’s legal authority over aftermarket crash parts and recycled
airbags; reviewed NHTSA’s defect identification, investigation
and recall processes; toured two crash test facilities; and interviewed
representatives of over 40 government and industry organizations.
Appendix I provides a detailed discussion of our scope and methodology.
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