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Committee advances bill to ban sale and installation of counterfeit or nonfunctional airbags
Summary
H 688 would prohibit the sale, installation or transfer of vehicles with counterfeit or nonfunctional airbag components, align state law with federal safety standards, and make knowing violations a misdemeanor; the committee recommended the bill to the floor.
Senator Keyser presented H 688 to repeal and replace existing motor-vehicle provisions addressing airbags, adding definitions for airbags, counterfeit components and non-functional airbags, and aligning Idaho law with federal safety standard 49 CFR 571.208. The bill would make it unlawful to knowingly sell, install, or transfer vehicles with counterfeit or non-functional airbag components and designate violations as misdemeanors; an emergency clause would make it effective July 1.
Robert Anderst of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation testified that counterfeit airbags have caused at least eight deaths nationally over the past eight to ten years and that 42 other states have similar laws. Committee members discussed concerns about product liability, the distinction between counterfeit and non-functional parts, and whether honest owners or repair shops would be unfairly penalized; the committee voted to send H 688 to the floor with a do-pass recommendation.
