Kentucky Legislature Reviews Airbag Bill
March 6, 2009

The Kentucky House of Representatives recently passed a bill that would exclude the cost of airbags from the calculation of damages that determine whether a vehicle meets the 75 percent damaged threshold to be classified as a salvage vehicle. It also would insert a provision into the current law that would require insurers to pay for airbag re-installation in accordance with the terms and conditions of individual policies.

The bill would insert the following bold language into the current law describing the definition of a salvage vehicle:

A vehicle that has been wrecked, destroyed, or damaged, to the extent that the total estimated or actual cost of parts and labor to rebuild or reconstruct the vehicle to its pre-accident condition and for legal operations on the road or highways, not including the cost or parts and labor to reinstall a deployed airbag system, exceeds 75 percent of the retail value of the vehicle, as set forth in a current edition of the National Automobile Dealer's Association price guide.

It also would add this language to the law:

The exclusion of airbag reinstallation costs from the 75-percent computation as set forth [in the above paragraph] shall not absolve insurers from the terms and conditions of individual policies relating to airbag reinstallation.

The bill has now moved to the Senate's transportation committee for review. It passed the House with a vote of 91-1; eight representatives did not cast their votes.

CLICK HERE for the full text of the bill as it passed the house.

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