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Local news stories affecting the auto body industry in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and West Virginia
Mississippi Commissioner Chaney to Run for Reelection
Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney has officially announced his intention to seek a second term.
Chaney was first elected to office in November 2007 when he beat Democrat Gary Anderson by taking 57 percent of the vote. Chaney succeeded long-time commissioner, George Dale.
GCIA Has CARFAX Talk About Information Collection at January Meeting
The Georgia Collision Industry Association held their first meeting of 2011 on January 27; the main speakers for the night were Data Acquisition Manager Sali McCahill and Repair Advantage Program Director Nancy Fiorino from the vehicle history reporting company CARFAX.
The speakers gave a presentation on how CARFAX gathers the information they have on accidents and repairs on vehicles and their new Repair Advantage Program.
Ray Gunder Spearheads Successful ‘Angel Autos’ Giveaway
Five needy families, their circumstances exacerbated by a lack of adequate transportation, received showroom-quality used cars during a blustery ceremony outside Victory Church in Lakeland thanks to area body shops last month.
Amid a sea of tears, hugs and hallelujahs, members of the Auto Angels experienced the joy of giving, promising to help more families next year.
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“I’ve never had a feeling like this, and I’m 60 years old. I’ve had chill bumps all morning,” said Ray Gunder, owner of a Lakeland automotive center who was instrumental in bringing about the car giveaway.
Twenty or more area auto dealers, garages and body shops, comprise the Auto Angels program. Gunder said he patterned the group after Recycled Rides, a nationwide awareness campaign that is aligned with the National Auto Body Council. In the past few months, Gunder and his associates acquired five cars in need of varying amounts of TLC. In some cases entire engines were replaced, he said.
Snow Storms — Headaches for Motorists, Stimulus for Industry Economy
A heavy snow storm passed through northern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia January 5 through 7, originating in Arkansas. The snow storm brought heavy snow, blanketing the region in 4 to 10 inches in some areas.
Mississippi Bill Would Repeal State Vehicle Safety Inspection
State Rep. Steve Horne, R-81, has introduced House Bill 151, which repeals the Mississippi annual safety inspection of motor vehicles program.
MS H.B. 151 includes additional language on the tinting of windows.
Mississippi has an annual decentralized safety inspection program. Less than half the states in the United States have safety inspection programs despite studies in Pennsylvania and Missouri that have indicated the value of safety inspection programs in reducing accidents, injuries and deaths. The federal government has not shown interest in promoting state safety inspection programs or in evaluating their value in reducing accidents, injuries and deaths.
If the bill becomes law, it will take effect July 11, 2011. The Automotive Service Association (ASA) opposes MS H.B. 151.
ASA encourages independent repairers to go to the ASA legislative website, www.TakingTheHill.com, to review the Mississippi legislation.
Florida Autobody Collision Alliance (FACA) Announces New First Executive Director
The Executive Board of Directors of the Florida Autobody Collision Alliance announced that it has appointed Cathy Mills its first Executive Director. Mills will assume the responsibilities of the position on January 1, 2011.
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Ford investing $600M, hiring 1,800 at Louisville, KY, SUV plant
Ford Motor Co. is hiring 1,800 workers and spending $600 million to overhaul a factory in Louisville, Kentucky, to build small sport utility vehicles according to reports made by Bloomberg News.
The factory, which now produces the midsize Ford Explorer SUV, will begin building a redesigned version of the Escape compact utility vehicle late next year, Marcey Evans, a Ford spokeswoman, said in an interview. At that time, the plant will begin operating two shifts and employing 2,900 workers, up from one shift and 1,100 workers currently, she said.
Ford is transforming the Louisville plant into its most flexible factory, capable of producing small cars, SUVs and wagons.
Such flexibility is typical of Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. plants. Ford also plans to build a small Lincoln SUV in Louisville starting in 2012.
Georgia’s Sports & Imports Collision Donates Recycled Ride
With the help of The Impact! Group, Sports & Imports Collision, a member of the Georgia Collision Industry Association (GCIA), delivered an Oldsmobile Intrigue to The Jeremy Burse Family in a ceremony at 3400 McDaniel Rd., Duluth, Ga.
Drunk Driving Arrests Up, Fatalities Down in Mississippi
DUI arrests have skyrocketed in Mississippi in the past several years, helping lead to the lowest number of drunken driving deaths in decades according to reports made by Insurance Journal.
It’s welcome news for a state that has ranked among the nation’s worst in per capita alcohol-related deaths. Projections estimate drunken driving deaths in 2010 in Mississippi will be about 232 — far below the 384 tallied in 2007.
The drop coincides with the state seeing more than 32,000 DUI arrests for the second year in a row, far more than the 22,511 several years ago.
Mississippi Highway Patrol officials attribute the rise in DUI arrests to local and county agencies across the state getting more involved.
“Here are things we know we can prevent through enforcement and stiff penalties,” said Hinds County Sheriff Malcolm McMillin. “It’s a deterrent.”
Safety Advocates Advocate Restructuring of Alabama Licensing Program
The recent deaths of four Jefferson County teenagers in three wrecks reinforced what safety experts said they already knew — Alabama is a dangerous place for young drivers.
According to reports made by the Birmingham News, a 2008 study by Allstate Insurance ranked the state the second most dangerous in the country for teen drivers, just behind Mississippi. Of the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas, the Birmingham- Hoover area was the fifth deadliest for those drivers, the study showed.
That same year, 8.8 percent of all drivers involved in fatal crashes in Alabama were age 19 or under and 22 percent were younger than 25, according to the 2008 Alabama Traffic Crash Facts published by the University of Alabama’s Center for Advanced Public Safety.