Posts: 48752
From: Saco, Maine
Registered: May 99

posted 09-28-2006 06:26 PM            

Legislation
DVIA
For car lovers, one of the most enduring memories of last fall's Hurricane Katrina is that of endless rows of storm-tossed cars, as well as stories of car owners and their ruined rides. In the following months, we also heard about low-life resellers reconditioning many of these cars and selling them as used, without a salvage title, to unsuspecting buyers, who continue to be plagued with the litany of problems that might afflict flood-damaged cars.
The idea of legislation to address situations like this has been floating around for some time, and with the introduction of H. R. 6093 in the US House of Representatives on September 19, that legislation became a reality.
H. R. 6093, the Damaged Vehicle Information Act, is a short, sweet little bill to amend Title 49, United States Code, "to direct the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to require the disclosure of information relating to the fair market value and safety of damaged motor vehicles."
Sponsored by Rep. Cliff Stearns of the Florida sixth, H. R. 6093 directs the Secretary of Transportation, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, to "issue a regulation requiring all persons who terminate a contract related to a motor vehicle due to flood or water damage, collision, fire damage, theft and recovery, or any other circumstance that adversely affects the fair market value of such motor vehicle, to disclose to the public in a commercially reasonable, electronically accessible manner the following information for every motor vehicle that has been identified in such contract."
H. R. 6093 was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection on Monday September 25, but it's anyone's guess if it will come up for a vote before the House adjourns, currently scheduled for October 6.
- By David B. Traver Adolphus