California BAR proposed airbag safety regulations comment period ends Aug. 24

The public comment period on the California Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR)’s proposed airbag safety regulations ends next Monday.

The regulations would require automotive repair dealers (ARDs) to follow OEM procedures. They would also require ARDs “to restore an airbag that is part of an inflatable restraint system to its original operating condition as designed by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM).”

BAR states that ARDs could only buy airbag replacement parts or components from:

• • OEMs
  • Suppliers or resellers previously authorized by the appropriate OEM whose airbag parts or components aren’t subject to recall by the OEM or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA);
  • Automotive dismantlers licensed by the Department of Motor Vehicles

According to what’s proposed, airbag parts or components can only be bought from licensed automotive dismantlers “so long as the airbag has not been previously deployed; the airbag assembly shows no indications of damage, previous deployment, or tampering; and the vehicle from which the used parts or components have no airbag-related recalls that have not been performed.”

ARDs would also have to keep receipts for all received or purchased airbag parts.

“Any replacement shall not contradict any position statement from the manufacturer of the vehicle for which the airbag is being replaced,” the proposed regulations state.

BAR also proposes prohibiting ARDs from manufacturing, installing, or selling any airbag that is part of an inflatable restraint system known, or “which by the exercise of reasonable care should be known, to:

• • “Have been previously deployed;
  • “Have an electrical fault;
  • “Include a component designed to mislead the vehicle owner or operator into believing a functional airbag has been installed;
  • “Display a mark identical or substantially similar to the genuine mark of a motor vehicle manufacturer, or of a supplier of parts to the manufacturer of a motor vehicle, without authorization from that manufacturer or supplier.”

A 45-day public comment period is open through Aug. 24. After the comment period, BAR will submit its final package to the state’s Office of Administrative Law for final approval and adoption. BAR expects the effective date of Jan. 1, 2027.

The dangers of counterfeit airbags were discussed at the July meeting of the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) in Chicago. Teena Bohi,  an Automotive Anti-Counterfeiting Council (A2C2) board member and Toyota Motor Sales senior brand protection analyst, shared the story of Alexia De La Rosa, a Utah teenager, who was killed in a collision by a counterfeit airbag that she said exploded like a bomb, sending metal fragments through the vehicle.

“It was something that should have not happened,” Bohi said. “It was a minor accident that should have been survivable from all accounts.”

De La Rosa died in the roadway minutes after her vehicle was involved in a front-end collision, according to a lawsuit filed by Morgan & Morgan law firm on behalf of her family.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced in April that it banned one type of counterfeit airbag part. A defective Chinese inflator was in the airbag that killed De La Rosa and nine other individuals.

Earlier this year, a Florida jury awarded $603 million to the family of a mother of two who was killed when a counterfeit airbag detonated in her car following a minor crash, according to the law firm representing her.

Destiny Byassee, 22, was involved in the crash on June 11, 2023, when an airbag made by Jilin Province Detiannuo Safety Technology Co., Ltd. (DTN) installed in her vehicle failed to deploy properly and exploded, sending metal shrapnel throughout the vehicle, according to a press release from Morgan & Morgan.

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