A new law in California will require car dealers to flag salvaged vehicles with red warning stickers will determine if the law will become a nationwide mandate, according to recent news sources.
Starting in July, automobile dealers will have to label any cars that have been flagged in the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System as junked, savaged, or flood-damaged.
The system is being tried out in the nation’s largest car market. If it is successful, consumer advocates will go to the Federal Trade Commission to ask that the system be used nationally.
According to the president of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, “It’s got to benefit honest dealers who don’t want to traffic in salvaged vehicles.”
However, the National Automobile Dealers Association is against the law going national.
The NADA associate director of legal and regulatory affairs stated, “Pursuing these goals via a window sticker is an outmoded concept that makes little sense. Instead this type of information should be gathered, maintained and made available to consumers in a uniform electronic format.”
As a Los Angeles car accident lawyer, I’m glad to see that consumers will be notified if the vehicle they purchase may be damaged or defective, which could increase the risk of a crash. In my experience as a Los Angeles personal injury lawyer, I’ve seen how defective cars or car parts can endanger drivers.