The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance (TDCI) is examining the need for regulations that would require aftermarket crash parts to meet crashworthiness standards met by their OEM equivalents.
Several aftermarket parts manufacturers use carbon steel in place of the high strength and ultra high strength steels used by OEMs, sparking safety and performance concerns. The Diamond Standard Brand Alternative Safety Part Division of Reflexxion Automotive and Production Bumper Stampings made a presentation on the use of safety parts that don’t meet federal standards of crashworthiness or standard of performance of the OEM part on Feb. 6 for the TDCI.
The state is considering adding safety parts to its definition of crash parts. Now, Tennessee regulations covering crash parts include a definition of crash parts, manufacturer identification of the part and disclosure. The TDCI considers the current regulations to be outdated and believes they should be modeled after those of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) model law’s quality and performance requirements.
“We welcome this opportunity to assist and serve the industry and state of Tennessee to create updated regulations to include safety parts and quality performance requirements of these parts to assure the part being installed will indeed restore the vehicle’s collision management system to its predamaged condition and to the standard which came on the vehicle initially – the OEM part being that standard,” said Geoff Crane, business development manager for the Diamond Standard Brand Division. “If it’s a common goal within the collision repair industry that all vehicle occupants are safe, why would anyone install or be allowed to install safety parts that fail to provide the federal and OEM standards of crashworthiness in a collision management system?”
Crane said that aftermarket parts that don’t meet OEM standards for performance and crashworthiness are “a violation of use in any state with regulations calling for OEM equivalency or like kind quality and performance” for replacement parts.
In January, the NAIC asked Diamond Standard to review its model law governing aftermarket parts (click HERE to read more).
For a video of Crane’s presentation in Tennessee, visit www.diamondstandardparts.com.
