...read this, from the New York Times this morning: A Used Car or a Katrina Biohazard? By MARCIA BIEDERMAN Published: October 17, 2005
TO the sorrows and losses wrought by Hurricane Katrina, add the unprecedented potential for fraud - and peril - in the resale of cars damaged by the storm. Since the hurricane struck on Aug. 29, auto clubs and law enforcement officials have warned consumers to scrutinize used cars for water damage and investigate their histories. Because a damaged car's title can be "washed"- varying state laws make it relatively easy to obtain a clean title in one state for a vehicle branded with a "flood" or "salvage" title in another - such warnings are routine after major storms. But Katrina's automotive losses were hardly routine. Cars that sat in sewage- and fuel-contaminated floodwaters in New Orleans could pose unprecedented risks to anyone who handles the vehicles or their parts, according to the Coordinating Committee for Automotive Repair, a nonprofit organization that provides advice on pollution prevention and worker health and safety issues to segments of the auto industry, including repair businesses. "This is not just another flood vehicle; this is a whole different animal," said Robert Stewart, the group's president. The coordinating committee has posted a report on the Internet (www.ccar-greenlink.org) warning that contaminated sludge may lurk in doors, frame rails, rocker panels and gas tanks, and that interior trim and carpets can harbor pathogens. The flooded cars should be regarded as biohazards, the group says. "We can't tell you whether a New Orleans car would ever be safe," said Lirel Holt, past chairman of the coordinating committee. Carfax, the nation's leading provider of information on the history of individual vehicles, estimates that 570,000 cars may have been damaged by Katrina. Louisiana officials say 300,000 of those may have been in New Orleans. An ambitious project to help consumers identify at least some hurricane-damaged vehicles became available online Friday. At the Web site of the National Insurance Crime Bureau, www.nicb.org, one can enter a car's 17-digit vehicle identification number, or VIN, to find out whether it is among the 60,000 listed so far in a database of vehicles damaged by Hurricanes Katrina or Rita.... More details here: http://tinyurl.com/b5hhc ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/JjtolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
