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+HELP SAVE LIVES BY STOPPING THE PROLIFERATION OF DANGEROUS
+COUNTERFEIT AIRBAGS IN ALASKA
 
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+AUTOMOBILE AIRBAGS SAVE LIVES
 
- SENATE BILL NO. 17
+Airbag systems are an essential and complicated component of modern vehicle safety systems.
+Federal regulations require automobiles to be equipped with several airbags throughout the cabin and
+dictate how each must respond in the event of a collision. The airbag system is designed so that each
+individual airbag works in concert with the others to provide optimal protection for all passengers. This
+is possible because in the milliseconds after an impact occurs, sensors throughout the vehicle register
+critical information about the collision, such as the speed of the vehicle, the point of impact and the
+size, weight and position of each passenger. This information is used to determine which airbags to
+deploy, in what order to deploy them, and the level of force at which each are deployed. The National
+Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that this advanced technology has saved
+the lives of tens of thousands of Americans over the past two decades.
 
-IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
+COUNTERFEIT AIRBAGS ENDANGER PEOPLE’S LIVES
 
-THIRTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE - FIRST SESSION
+In order to provide this level of protection, the entire system needs to work as it was designed  and a
+single counterfeit airbag or airbag component can compromise the entire system . Unfortunately,
+foreign and domestic counterfeiters are flooding the market with cheap and ineffective knock -offs in
+an attempt to turn a profit by defrauding unknowing consumers. In many cases these counterfeits are
+filled with sawdust, newspaper or nothing at all. Others are quite literally bombs, as can be seen in
+this NHTSA test video. In 2012 NHTSA released a consumer safety advisory warning the public about
+this growing problem.
 
-BY SENATOR CLAMAN
+COUNTERFEIT AIRBAGS ARE A SERIOUS PROBLEM
 
-Introduced:  1/22/25
-Referred:  Labor and Commerce, Judiciary
+Over the past few years , tens of thousands of counterfeit airbags have been confiscated by federal
+agents in raids across the country . Unfortunately, federal law enforcement agencies have limited
+authority to combat this problem  as many fake airbags do not violate federal trademark law. As a
+result, several thousand dangerous airbags are able to enter the stream of commerce each year where
+they are sold over the internet and installed in the vehicles of unknowing Alaska motorists, putting their
+lives at risk. These knockoffs have resulted in deaths and injuries across the country, one of which
+was highlighted in a CBS News story from last year.
 
-A BILL
+THE SOLUTION: OUTLAW FAKE AIRBAGS IN ALASKA
 
-FOR AN ACT ENTITLED
+State law in Alaska currently does not prohibit the instillation or reinstallation of airbags that do no t
+meet federal safety standards, nor does it address the truly bad actors who knowingly and intentionally
+import, manufacture, sell or offer these products for sale to unknowing consumers. The automotive
+industry, in partnership with other stakeholders strongly supports enacting legislation that would give
+state and federal law enforcement agents  the ability to confiscate these products when they are
+discovered, before they can put Alaska motorists at risk.
 
-"An Act establishing the crime of airbag fraud." 1
-BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 2
-   * Section 1. AS 28.35 is amended by adding a new section to read: 3
-Sec. 28.35.248. Airbag fraud. (a) A person commits the crime of airbag fraud 4
-if the person  5
-(1)  knowingly sells, offers for sale, imports, installs, or reinstalls 6
-(A)  a replacement airbag that does not comply with federal 7
-safety regulations specific to the vehicle's make, model, and year;  8
-(B)  an airbag that is counterfeit or nonfunctioning; or 9
-(C)  a part or device that is intended to conceal a counterfeit  or 10
-nonfunctioning airbag; 11
-(2)  knowingly manufactures  12
-(A)  a counterfeit or nonfunctioning airbag; or  13
-(B)  a part or device that is intended to conceal a counterfeit  or 14
-nonfunctioning airbag; or 15
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+Over the past several years, a coalition of automakers, insurers, law enforcement professionals, safety
+advocates and other stakeholders have worked together to enact similar legislation in 25 states (AL,
+CA, CT, FL, GA, HI, IA, IN, LA, MA, MD, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OH, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, WA)
+with overwhelming bipartisan support. We respectfully ask for your support in enacting this legislation
+in Alaska as well.
 
-(3)  intentionally sells, leases, or trades or offers for sale, lease, or trade 1
-a vehicle that the person knows has  2
-(A)  a replacement airbag that does not comply with federal 3
-safety regulations specific to the vehicle's make, model, and year; or 4
-(B)  a counterfeit or nonfunctioning airbag. 5
-(b)  This section does not apply to  6
-(1)  a person installing, reinstalling, or replacing an airbag on a vehicle 7
-used solely for police work;  8
-(2)  an owner or employee of a m otor vehicle dealership or the owner 9
-of a vehicle who, before the sale of the vehicle, does not have  knowledge that the 10
-vehicle's airbag is counterfeit or nonfunctioning; 11
-(3)  a person who transfers a vehicle title to an insurance com pany to 12
-satisfy an insurance claim when the insurance company declares the vehicle to be an 13
-actual total loss or constructive total loss; or 14
-(4)  an insurance company that sells or otherwise disposes of a  vehicle 15
-as authorized by law or regulation.  16
-(c)  This section does not  17
-(1)  preclude liability of any party in a civil action; or 18
-(2)  create a duty that, before the sale of a vehicle, an owner  o r  19
-employee of a motor vehicle dealership or the owner of the vehicle inspect a vehicle in 20
-the possession of the dealership or owner to determine whether the airbag is 21
-counterfeit or nonfunctioning. 22
-(d)  In this section, 23
-(1)  "airbag" includes an airbag component; 24
-(2)  "counterfeit" means a replacement airbag displaying an 25
-unauthorized mark that is identical, or substantially similar, to the genuine mark of a 26
-motor vehicle manufacturer or supplier of parts to a motor vehicle manufacturer; 27
-(3)  "nonfunctioning" means a replacement airbag that is inoper able, 28
-damaged, or recalled, has previously been deployed, will cause a vehicle's diagnostic 29
-system to inaccurately indicate that the vehicle is equipped with a properly functioning 30
-airbag, or results in an electric fault detected by a vehicle's  diagnostic system after the 31
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-
-installation procedure is complete;  1
-(4)  "recalled" means an airbag that was removed from a vehicle  2
-because a manufacturer or federal agency determined the airbag created an 3
-unreasonable safety risk or did not meet minimum safety standar ds and that federal 4
-law has not exempted from reinstallation. 5
-(e)  Airbag fraud is 6
-(1)  a class A misdemeanor; or 7
-( 2 )   a  c l a s s  C  f e l o n y  i f  d e a t h  o r  s e r i o u s  p h y s i c a l  i n j u r y  t o  a nother 8
-person results from  9
-(A)  the manufacture, sale, importation, installation, or 10
-reinstallation of a replacement a irbag that does not comply wit h federal safety 11
-regulations specific to the vehicle's make, model, and year or a counterfeit or 12
-nonfunctioning airbag; or  13
-(B)  the sale, lease, or trade of a vehicle that has a replacem ent 14
-airbag that does not comply with federal safety regulations spe cific to the 15
-vehicle's make, model, and year or a counterfeit or nonfunctioning airbag. 16
+For more information, please visit A2C2.com or contact Craig Orlan in Honda’s government relations office at (202)
+661.4400 or craig_orlan@ahm.honda.com