House committee hears bill to require insurer acceptance of automaker repair procedures

Senate Bill 356, introduced in House Business and Labor by Sen. Barry Usher, drew hours of testimony on whether insurance companies should be required to accept automakers’ repair procedures and safety inspections when vehicles are repaired after collisions.

Proponents told the committee that modern vehicles — with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), mixed materials and specific post‑collision calibration needs — require repairs aligned with manufacturer procedures to restore vehicles to their pre‑accident safety condition. John McDonald of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation said automakers provide the only comprehensive, crash‑tested repair procedures and cited a $42,000,000 jury verdict in Texas that he said arose from improper prior repairs.…