Your Money : Not All Auto Makers Are Sticking to Bumper Law
A survey released Thursday found uneven compliance among auto manufacturers with California’s so-called bumper sticker law.
The 2-year-old law requires car makers to put stickers on new cars that state the strength of the bumper. Under federal rules adopted in 1983, bumpers must withstand a 2 1/2-m.p.h. crash without damage. Before then, bumpers had to withstand a 5-m.p.h. collision, and some auto makers still meet the higher standard.
The survey was conducted by Motor Votes and the California Public Interest Research Group. The organizations said they checked 600 cars at 80 auto dealerships around the state.
All Acuras, Chryslers, Plymouths, Hondas, Infinitis, Mitsubishis, Saturns and Volvos checked had stickers, they said. But only 34% of Oldsmobiles and 40% of Mazdas surveyed had them, the groups said.
A spokesman for Oldsmobile could not explain the company’s poor showing. Gus Buenz said that before June 1, dealers were required to put the stickers on cars. The company has taken over the chore, he said, and stickers are now affixed at the factory.
“There may have been some slippage in between when (dealers) stopped putting them on and we took over,†Buenz said.
Mazda representative Jack Pitney said he hadn’t seen the study and couldn’t comment on it. However, he said that all Mazdas entering the country for sale in California leave port with the stickers on them. He said safeguards are in place to make sure no vehicle is released from a port without a sticker.
“We are 100% in compliance with this law. What happens once they reach dealers, I can’t speak to,†Pitney said.
Motor Voters and CalPIRG are lobbying to raise the federal standard for bumpers. They argue that the lower standard has raised repair bills for consumers. A CalPIRG spokeswoman cited a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety showing that damage claims for Buick Regals rose 22% when the standard was lowered to 2 1/2 m.p.h. from 5 m.p.h.
Auto makers that continue to meet the 5-m.p.h. standard include Acura, Ford, Honda, Lincoln-Mercury and Saturn.
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Sorry, wrong number: GTE said its computer scrambled long-distance charges for 110,000 of its customers last week, causing them to receive someone else’s bill.
One GTE customer contacted us to say she received a long-distance bill from AT&T; for calls to Tomah, Wis., and Homass Spring, Fla. She said she did not make the calls and that her long-distance carrier is Sprint.
The error affected 3.5% of GTE’s customers statewide, and all had a billing date of June 1. A GTE spokesman was unable to say what caused the billing error but said the problem is fixed.
“Computers are strange creatures,†spokesman Larry Cox said. “Sometimes they malfunction and then you reboot them and they work perfectly.â€
In the meantime, GTE is sending postcards to customers explaining the mistake.
It’s also calling customers who were erroneously billed $100 or more, advising them to disregard the charges.
GTE said all customers should examine their bills carefully and notify the company about any questionable long-distance or toll charges. Corrected bills will go out next month, GTE said.
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Odds and ends: Mooving along: Consumers Union says the state Department of Food and Agriculture has agreed to hold hearings on possible revisions to a milk-pricing formula adopted last year. No date has been set. Consumers Union said the formula rewarded dairy farmers at the expense of consumers. . . . A good reason to take up sewing: A recent issue of the trade publication Brandweek reports that the fabric for a $60 pair of designer jeans costs $3.50.
