California to Draft New Auto Glass Regulations
The California Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) has initiated a process to consider revised Auto Body and Windshield Repair regulations. The BAR held a public teleconference on October 21 to review its initial draft and AGSC Board and staff members participated in the teleconference.
Prior to the teleconference, AGSC sent a letter to the BAR expressing its interest in participating in the process and urging it to review the AGSC Auto Glass Replacement Safety Standard (AGRSS) and consider adopting it into its regulations it as a state standard. The BAR’s draft would add a provision to the state regulations that states that “Automotive repair dealers performing windshield installation or repair shall not use repair specifications, repair procedures, or install a replacement part that would cause the vehicle to not function as designed or in a manner that compromises the vehicle safety.”
Jacques Navant, AGSC board member and chair of AGSC’s ADAS committee, spoke during the teleconference. Navant pointed to the AGSC letter requesting review and consideration of the AGRSS standard and said that the BAR draft provision was overly broad, subjective, and difficult to enforce. BAR officials responded that they were open to consider regulations affecting aftermarket windshields and expressed concern about the safety ramifications of calibrations related to auto glass replacement. BAR officials welcomed the participation of AGSC in developing new regulations.
Auto Glass Law Moves Forward
On August 27, the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) issued proposed Safety Glass Replacement Standards, subject to a public comment period, pursuant to Maryland Ch. 461 (H.B. 519) Acts of 2021, the new auto glass safety replacement legislation passed by the state legislature earlier this year.
The legislature required the MVA to “adopt regulations to standards and requirements for aftermarket safety glass replacement that meet or exceed the requirements of the American National Standards Institute/Auto Glass Safety Council/Automotive Glass Replacement Safety Standard.”
AGSC submitted a comment that praised the proposed new standard and offered two suggested modifications. The MVA proposal virtually mirrors the Automotive Glass Replacement Safety Standards already in place. In an October 12 virtual meeting with AGSC and other commenters on the proposed regulation, the MVA agreed to address AGSC’s proposed modifications. MVA is also considering a request from another stakeholder to replace the actual language of the AGRSS in the proposed regulation and replace it with a statement that adopts the ANSI/AGSC/AGRSS in its current form into state law. This would allow any future changes to the AGRSS to automatically become part of the state standard. In the coming weeks MD-MVA will be issuing a revised proposed regulation for public comment based on the points discussed during the October 12 meeting.
AGSC Committees to Meet in Tampa in January
The Auto Glass Safety Council and its National Windshield Repair Division will be holding Board and Committee meetings at Tampa Airport Marriot Hotel on January 11-12, 2022. This includes meetings of the AGSC AGRSS Standards Committee and the ROLAGS 2 Committee. Please go to https://agsc.org/agsc-committees-to-meet-in-tampa-in-january-2022/ for details and travel information or see page 35.
AGSC Designated “Highway Safety Champion”
The Auto Glass Safety Council has been designated a “2021 Highway Safety Champion” by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA). AGSC is working with GHSA, comprised of lead highway safety officials in each state government, to improve windshield safety and reduce the impact of automobile crashes. AGSC officials participated in GHSA Annual Meeting held in Denver in September.
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