Lessons From Florida's Hurricane 'Mean Season'  May 22nd 2024

Southeast U.S. College to Offer Collision Engineering Program

[Editor's note: Kudos to Enterprise Mobility for leading the way in addressing widespread collision repair technician shortages, upgrading training and education with the overall profile of the profession - "Collision Engineering"]

Sandhills Community College is the first college in the Southeast to offer this program

Enterprise Mobility, through the Enterprise Mobility Foundation, has announced that Sandhills Community College in Pinehurst, North Carolina, will offer the innovative Collision Engineering program as part of its existing collision repair and refinishing technology program, according to a news release.

Sandhills is the first college in the Southeast to offer this program, which is also available at several other colleges across the country. “We always strive for the best for our students, and the opportunities the Collision Engineering program offers are unmatched,” said Brian Garner, chair and instructor of the Sandhills transportation department. “The program’s unique model offers eight weeks in class, followed by eight weeks at a paid apprenticeship with a local employer. This approach can significantly impact students’ lives by providing a strong start to a rewarding career in the automotive collision industry.”

John Helterbrand, national program director of Collision Engineering, expressed his anticipation for expanding the program’s reach in North Carolina. The goal is to streamline industry advancements within local communities across the U.S. The approach addresses the talent shortage regionally, starting with the colleges they serve, aiming to improve training methods by fostering a collaborative partnership between the industry and educational institutions.

The Collision Engineering program, founded by the Enterprise Mobility Foundation and Ranken Technical College in St. Louis, partners with schools across the country. It aims to help fill the more than 110,000 collision technician job openings expected through 2027. The program is designed in collaboration with the automotive industry and educational institutions to facilitate lifelong learning for future leaders of collision repair. article

Sompo Intl. reports stronger P&C combined ratio in FY'23 results -

Bermuda-based specialty re/insurer Sompo International Holdings has reported that the financial year 2023 combined ratio for commercial property & casualty (P&C) improved to 91.8% from 92.5%, driven by improved accident year loss ratios and lower catastrophe losses.

The stronger combined ratio is reflected in a rise in underwriting income from $667.3 million in 2022 to $750.2 million in 2023, as growth in Reinsurance and North America more than offset declines in both Global Markets and AgriSompo.

In North America, the firm highlights improved accident year margins and lower catastrophe losses, while the Reinsurance business also benefited from lower nat cat losses.

In fact, across the company, natural disaster losses fell from $553 million in 2022 to $324 million in 2023, driven by U.S. tornados, Cyclone Gabrielle, Hawaii wildfires, European hailstorms, the Turkey earthquake, Hurricane Idalia, and other events.

In terms of top line growth, Sompo International Commercial P&C generated gross written premiums of more than $14.3 billion, which is down slightly on 2022’s $14.5 billion, as growth in Reinsurance, North America, and Global Markets was offset by a decline in AgriSompo.

Lawsuit alleges mother’s death caused by improper repairs on totaled vehicle

A lawsuit has been filed against a rental company, auto auction company, used car retailer, manufacturer, and body shop in the death of a Florida woman.

The complaint, filed in Broward County Seventeenth Judicial Circuit Court May 16, alleges Destiny Byassee was killed in a June 12, 2023 collision when a counterfeit front driver-side air bag “detonated like a grenade and shot metal and plastic shrapnel throughout the vehicle cabin.”

“Ms. Byassee was a mother of two young children and had her entire life ahead of her. What should have been a minor collision turned deadly because of the alleged negligence of multiple companies,” John Morgan, an attorney with the firm representing Byassee’s estate, told NBC2 in Florida.

“She believed she was buying a safe and reliable vehicle, but our lawsuit alleges that several automotive companies worked to skirt the system by repairing what should’ve been a totaled vehicle, all just to make money. Because of that, Ms. Byassee lost her life, and her children will grow up without their mother.”

Chinese company Jilin Province Detiannuo Safety Technology Co. allegedly designs, manufactures, sells, distributes, and ships counterfeit air bags to the U.S. One of the air bags was put in Byassee’s 2020 Chevrolet Malibu by Jumbo Automotive and Haim Levy, the owner of the shop, according to the suit.

“In 2022, the vehicle was involved in a collision that caused the front driver-side air bag and front driver-side seatbelt pretensioner to deploy,” the suit states. “The damage to the subject Chevy Malibu from the crash was so significant that the vehicle should have been classified as a total loss, issued a salvage title, and removed from service.

“After being involved in a crash that caused the subject Chevy Malibu’s front driver-side air bag and seatbelt pretensioner to deploy, the front driver-side air bag module and the front driver-side seatbelt pretensioner must be removed and replaced with new components that comply with federal standards and the manufacturer’s designed specifications for the vehicle.”

Instead, the Malibu was sold to Drivetime through Manheim Auto Auction, Jumbo Automotive was hired to repair the vehicle before it was resold to Byassee, according to the complaint.

“In their effort to repair and replace the subject Chevy Malibu’s deployed front driver-side air bag, Jumbo and Levy purchased counterfeit and non-compliant air bag components that were designed, manufactured, and sold by Jilin and proceeded to install these components into the subject Chevy Malibu,” the suit states.

NHTSA investigates Tesla recall remedy, reports 13 fatal crashes since firmware update

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened an investigation into the remedy Tesla used to fix concerns with its “Autopilot” or “Autosteer” that resulted in more than 2 million vehicles being recalled late last year.

Soon after the recall, Tesla said it released a firmware update that incorporates additional controls and alerts to drivers reminding them to continuously supervise the vehicle when Autosteer is engaged.

The December recall stemmed from an NHTSA investigation that started in 2021 into the Autosteer feature which Tesla says can provide steering, braking, and acceleration support to the driver on controlled-access highways. The feature is not fully autonomous and drivers must keep their hands on the wheel, according to Tesla.

On April 25, NHTSA announced the opening of an investigation into the recall remedy after identifying 13 fatal crashes, in which “foreseeable driver misuse of the system played an apparent role.”

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) determined the crashes happened after the deployment of the remedy, NHTSA documents say. The documents say an investigation was reopened because of the crashes along with results from a preliminary NHTSA test of the vehicles.

“Also, Tesla has stated that a portion of the remedy both requires the owner to opt in and allows a driver to readily reverse it,” the documents say.

NHTSA reported that an analysis found the vehicles were involved in 956 crashes while Autopilot was in use between January 2018 and August 2023. Of the 956 crashes, 29 were fatal.

The document says during the analysis, ODI observed “a trend of avoidable crashes involving hazards that would have been visible to an attentive driver.”

In one example, NHTSA says a 2022 Model Y was traveling at highway speed when it struck a minor pedestrian exiting a school bus in North Carolina.

“The pedestrian was evacuated by air to a hospital for treatment of serious injuries,” the document says. “Based on publicly available information, both the bus and the pedestrian would have been visible to an attentive driver and allowed the driver to avoid or minimize the severity of this crash.”