Congress should protect car buyers from unsafe vehicles that were once totaled in Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters, according to Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss.
Lott, joined at a news conference by Reps. Cliff Sterns, R-Fla., and Charlie Melancon, D-La., said the proposed “Consumer Access to Total Loss Vehicle Data Act” would make available to consumers information about automobiles declared a total loss by insurance companies. The legislation directs the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to require all insurers to disclose information pertaining to total loss vehicles, perhaps through such online auto services as CAR-FAX.
“An estimated half-million vehicles were damaged by Katrina, and indeed there is evidence that these cars are being cleaned up and sold to unsuspecting consumers.” Lott claimed.
Many of these vehicles shouldn’t be on the roads, he said. “And folks are overpaying for vehicles they believe are mechanically sound. To the untrained eye, they appear to be in good shape.”
Lott said consumers should not have to rely on the states’ titling processes because each state is different. “The insurance industry should make this information available to protect the consumers, and we will be working to enact that protection in the 110th Congress,” he said.
Topics Windstorm
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