37 YEARS
M IDWESTEDITION
AUTOBODY IL / IN / IA / KS / KY / MI / MN / MO / NE / ND / OH / SD / WI
Prosecutor: No Crime by Uber in Self-Driving Death; Crash Still Under Scrutiny by Ray Stern, Phoenix New Times
Uber, the corporation, didn’t commit any crimes in the self-driving fatal crash last year that killed a woman in Tempe, AZ, the Yavapai County At-
Credit: Tempe Police
torney’s Office announced March 5. But backup driver Rafaela Vasquez may still be in trouble. The prosecutor’s office is asking Tempe police to provide more information and evidence that would help determine whether she was at fault. The Prescott-based office is also referring the criminal case against Uber back to Maricopa County for further review. The March 18, 2018 crash that killed Elaine Herzberg, a 49-yearold homeless woman, rocked many in the tech world who assumed auSee Self-Driving Death, Page 62
Class Action Against Allstate Can Continue; “Company, Not State, Sets Rates” Appeals Court Says by Dan Churney, Cook County Record
In a split decision, an Illinois appeals panel stripped Allstate Insurance of its defenses against a class action that alleged the company unfairly billed long-term auto policyholders more than it charged new ones. The panel said Illinois insurers can’t protect their rates from lawsuits because their rates are not controlled by the Illinois Department of Insurance. The Jan. 29 ruling was delivered by Justice Judy Cates with concurrence from Justice Melissa
Chapman of Illinois Fifth District Appellate Court in Mt. Vernon. Justice James Moore dissented.
AUTOBODYNEWS.COM Vol. 8 / Issue 7 / April 2019
IL Introduces Bill Mandating Disclosure of Aftermarket Parts, Adherence to OEM Repair Procedures by Chasidy Rae Sisk
On Feb. 15, Illinois State Senator Tom Cullerton (D) introduced Senate Bill 2104, which would add verbiage pertaining to OEM procedures to the Illinois Insurance Code. It would specify that “no vehicle repair facility or installer may use repair specifications or procedures that are not in compliance with the original equipment manufacturer for those parts.” The Illinois Automotive Collision Repair Act would also be amended to state that “no vehicle repair estimate may include the use of non-original equipment manufacturer aftermarket crash parts unless authorized by the customer in writing. “The estimate shall include the use of repair specifications by the
original equipment manufacturer for those parts, and no repair facility or installer may use repair specifications or procedures that are not in compliance with the original equipment manufacturer for those parts.” House Bill 2104 would also require that the use of aftermarket parts be disclosed and the manufacturer of each part be identified. Each estimate must describe the major parts needed in the repair and “shall designate the parts as either new parts, used parts, rebuilt or reconditioned parts, or aftermarket parts.” The proposed bill would also amend the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act to specify “no person engaged in the business of performing services on merchandise shall advertise See Mandating Disclosure, Page 12
Court Junks Body Shops’ Antitrust Claims Against State Farm, Other Carriers by Greg Land, PropertyCasualty360.com
The ruling favored Illinois residents Jeffrey A. Corbin, Margaret A. Corbin and Anna Tryfonas in their class action complaint against Allstate. They brought the suit in 2016 to downstate Madison County Circuit Court, which is known as a See Class Action, Page 26
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta has scrapped five combined lawsuits filed by auto body repair shops accusing State Farm Insurance and several other insurers of conspiring to punish shops that didn’t cooperate with its alleged scheme to fix prices and use sub-standard replacement parts. No Price-Fixing Eight of the nine judge en banc panel agreed that the repair shops’ complaints didn’t rise to the level of price-fixing and group-boycotting under the Sherman Antitrust Act, agreeing with a trial judge who dismissed the actions in 2016. The case has divided courts. In 2017, a three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh
Circuit had split the other way, with Judge Charles Wilson and a visiting judge sitting by appointment saying complaints should move forward, while a third, Senior Judge R. Lanier Anderson, dissented. The majority opinion made March 4 was written by Anderson with the concurrence of Chief Judge Ed Carnes and Judges Gerald Tjoflat, Adalberto Jordan, Kevin Newson, William Pryor, Beverly Martin and Elizabeth Branch. The dissenting opinion was crafted by Judge Charles Wilson, who had written the earlier opinion favoring the body shops. The most recent ruling dismissed the federal causes of action and two of three state claims, leaving alive only a claim for tortious interference. See Antitrust Claims, Page 24
PERMIT #288 ANAHEIM, CA
PAID
Change Service Requested P.O. BOX 1516, CARLSBAD, CA 92018
PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE