Florida Senate - 2014                       CS for CS for SB 754
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Transportation; and Banking and Insurance;
       and Senator Bradley
       
       
       
       
       596-03738-14                                           2014754c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to certificates of destruction for
    3         motor vehicles; amending s. 319.23, F.S.; requiring
    4         the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to
    5         visually inspect a motor vehicle that an applicant for
    6         a certificate of title has indicated is a rebuilt
    7         motor vehicle; requiring the department to issue an
    8         affidavit of compliance if the vehicle is not properly
    9         equipped; requiring an applicant to have the repaired
   10         vehicle inspected by a law enforcement agency in order
   11         to receive a certificate of title; requiring the
   12         department to provide a report regarding certificates
   13         of title for rebuilt motor vehicles; amending s.
   14         319.30, F.S.; defining a term; revising requirements
   15         for the department to declare certain mobile homes and
   16         motor vehicles unrebuildable and to issue a
   17         certificate of destruction; requiring an owner of, or
   18         an insurance company for, a motor vehicle that is
   19         worth less than a specified amount or is above a
   20         certain age to obtain a certificate of destruction
   21         under certain circumstances; providing a criminal
   22         penalty; amending s. 860.146, F.S.; defining terms and
   23         redefining the term “fake airbag”; prohibiting the
   24         import, manufacture, offering for sale, or
   25         reinstallation of fake airbags; providing a criminal
   26         penalty; providing an effective date.
   27          
   28  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   29  
   30         Section 1. Subsection (2) of section 319.23, Florida
   31  Statutes, is amended to read:
   32         319.23 Application for, and issuance of, certificate of
   33  title.—
   34         (2) The applicant for a certificate of title shall indicate
   35  on the application if the motor vehicle is to be used as a
   36  taxicab, police vehicle, or lease vehicle or if the motor
   37  vehicle or mobile home is a rebuilt vehicle, as those terms are
   38  defined in s. 319.14. If the applicant indicates on the
   39  application for a certificate of title that the motor vehicle is
   40  a rebuilt vehicle, the department shall visually inspect the
   41  vehicle. If, upon inspection, the department has reasonable
   42  cause to believe that the vehicle is not equipped as required by
   43  law, the department shall issue an affidavit of compliance and
   44  the applicant must then make necessary repairs and present the
   45  vehicle to a law enforcement agency for confirmation that any
   46  defect has been corrected pursuant to s. 316.6105, before a
   47  certificate of title may be issued for such vehicle. Upon
   48  issuance of a certificate of title for such vehicle, the
   49  department shall stamp, in a conspicuous place on the title,
   50  words stating the nature of the proposed use of the vehicle or
   51  stating that the vehicle has been rebuilt and may have
   52  previously been declared a total loss vehicle due to damage.
   53  This subsection applies to a mobile home, travel trailer,
   54  camping trailer, truck camper, or fifth-wheel recreation trailer
   55  only when the mobile home or vehicle is a rebuilt vehicle as
   56  defined in s. 319.14.
   57         Section 2. On or before December 31, 2015, the Department
   58  of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles shall provide a summary
   59  report to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the
   60  Speaker of the House of Representatives regarding certificates
   61  of title for rebuilt vehicles, along with the department’s
   62  recommendations for any legislation necessary to address and
   63  correct any needed improvements to the process used to issue
   64  certificates of title for rebuilt motor vehicles. The summary
   65  report must include, but is not limited to, a review of the
   66  affidavits of compliance issued and submitted that evidence
   67  corrections made to rebuilt salvage motor vehicles, and data on
   68  crashes caused by vehicle defects involving rebuilt motor
   69  vehicles.
   70         Section 3. Present paragraphs (i) through (w) of subsection
   71  (1) of section 319.30, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as
   72  paragraphs (j) through (x), respectively, a new paragraph (i) is
   73  added to that subsection, and paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of
   74  that section is amended, to read:
   75         319.30 Definitions; dismantling, destruction, change of
   76  identity of motor vehicle or mobile home; salvage.—
   77         (1) As used in this section, the term:
   78         (i) “Late model vehicle” means a motor vehicle that has a
   79  manufacturer’s model year of 7 years or newer.
   80         (3)
   81         (b) The owner, including persons who are self-insured, of a
   82  any motor vehicle or mobile home that which is considered to be
   83  salvage shall, within 72 hours after the motor vehicle or mobile
   84  home becomes salvage, forward the title to the motor vehicle or
   85  mobile home to the department for processing. However, an
   86  insurance company that which pays money as compensation for the
   87  total loss of a motor vehicle or mobile home shall obtain the
   88  certificate of title for the motor vehicle or mobile home, make
   89  the required notification to the National Motor Vehicle Title
   90  Information System, and, within 72 hours after receiving such
   91  certificate of title, shall forward such title to the department
   92  for processing. The owner or insurance company, as applicable
   93  the case may be, may not dispose of a vehicle or mobile home
   94  that is a total loss before it obtains has obtained a salvage
   95  certificate of title or certificate of destruction from the
   96  department. When applying for a salvage certificate of title or
   97  certificate of destruction, the owner or insurance company must
   98  provide the department with an estimate of the costs of
   99  repairing the physical and mechanical damage suffered by the
  100  vehicle for which a salvage certificate of title or certificate
  101  of destruction is sought. If the estimated costs of repairing
  102  the physical and mechanical damage to the mobile home vehicle
  103  are equal to 80 percent or more of the current retail cost of
  104  the mobile home vehicle, as established in any official used car
  105  or used mobile home guide, the department shall declare the
  106  mobile home vehicle unrebuildable and print a certificate of
  107  destruction, which authorizes the dismantling or destruction of
  108  the motor vehicle or mobile home described therein. For a late
  109  model vehicle with a current retail cost of at least $7,500 just
  110  prior to sustaining the damage that resulted in the total loss,
  111  as established in any official used car guide or valuation
  112  service, if the owner or insurance company determines that the
  113  estimated costs of repairing the physical and mechanical damage
  114  to the vehicle are equal to 90 percent or more of the current
  115  retail cost of the vehicle, as established in any official used
  116  motor vehicle guide or valuation service, the department shall
  117  declare the vehicle unrebuildable and print a certificate of
  118  destruction, which authorizes the dismantling or destruction of
  119  the motor vehicle. However, if the damaged motor vehicle is
  120  equipped with custom-lowered floors for wheelchair access or a
  121  wheelchair lift, the insurance company may, upon determining
  122  that the vehicle is repairable to a condition that is safe for
  123  operation on public roads, submit the certificate of title to
  124  the department for reissuance as a salvage rebuildable title and
  125  the addition of a title brand of “insurance-declared total
  126  loss.” The certificate of destruction shall be reassignable a
  127  maximum of two times before dismantling or destruction of the
  128  vehicle is shall be required, and shall accompany the motor
  129  vehicle or mobile home for which it is issued, when such motor
  130  vehicle or mobile home is sold for such purposes, in lieu of a
  131  certificate of title., and, thereafter, The department may not
  132  issue a shall refuse issuance of any certificate of title for
  133  that vehicle. Nothing in This subsection is not shall be
  134  applicable if when a mobile home vehicle is worth less than
  135  $1,500 retail just prior to sustaining the damage that resulted
  136  in the total loss in undamaged condition in any official used
  137  motor vehicle guide or used mobile home guide or when a stolen
  138  motor vehicle or mobile home is recovered in substantially
  139  intact condition and is readily resalable without extensive
  140  repairs to or replacement of the frame or engine. If a motor
  141  vehicle has a current retail cost of less than $7,500 just prior
  142  to sustaining the damage that resulted in the total loss, as
  143  established in any official used motor vehicle guide or
  144  valuation service, or if the vehicle is not a late model
  145  vehicle, the owner or insurance company that pays money as
  146  compensation for the total loss of the motor vehicle shall
  147  obtain a certificate of destruction, if the motor vehicle is
  148  damaged, wrecked, or burned to the extent that the only residual
  149  value of the motor vehicle is as a source of parts or scrap
  150  metal, or if the motor vehicle comes into this state under a
  151  title or other ownership document that indicates that the motor
  152  vehicle is not repairable, is junked, or is for parts or
  153  dismantling only. A Any person who knowingly violates this
  154  paragraph or falsifies documentation any document to avoid the
  155  requirements of this paragraph commits a misdemeanor of the
  156  first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s.
  157  775.083.
  158         Section 4. Section 860.146, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  159  read:
  160         860.146 Fake airbags; junk-filled airbag compartment.—
  161         (1) As used in this section, the term:
  162         (a) Airbag” means a motor vehicle inflatable occupant
  163  restraint system, including all component parts, such as the
  164  cover, sensors, controllers, inflators, and wiring, that is
  165  designed in accordance with federal safety regulations for a
  166  given make, model, and year of a vehicle.
  167         (b) “Counterfeit airbag” means an airbag displaying a mark
  168  identical or similar to the genuine mark of a motor vehicle
  169  manufacturer without authorization from said manufacturer.
  170         (c) “Fake airbag” means any item other than an airbag that
  171  was designed in accordance with federal safety regulations for a
  172  given make, model, and year of motor vehicle as part of a motor
  173  vehicle inflatable restraint system including counterfeit or
  174  nonfunctioning airbags.
  175         (d)(b) “Junk-filled airbag compartment” means an airbag
  176  compartment that is filled with any substance that does not
  177  function in the same manner or to the same extent as an airbag
  178  to protect vehicle occupants in a vehicle crash. The term does
  179  not include a compartment from which an airbag has deployed if
  180  there is no concealment of the deployment.
  181         (e) “Nonfunctional airbag” means a replacement airbag that:
  182         1. Was previously deployed or damaged;
  183         2. Has an electric fault that is detected by the vehicle
  184  airbag diagnostic system after the installation procedure is
  185  completed; or
  186         3. Includes any part or object, including, but not limited
  187  to, a counterfeit or repaired airbag cover, installed in a motor
  188  vehicle to mislead the owner or operator of such motor vehicle
  189  into believing that a functional airbag has been installed.
  190         (2) It is unlawful for any person anyone to knowingly
  191  import, manufacture, purchase, sell, offer for sale, or install,
  192  or reinstall on a any vehicle a any fake airbag or junk-filled
  193  airbag compartment. Any person who violates this subsection
  194  commits a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in
  195  s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
  196         Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2014.