Damaras Gatihi was driving along Interstate 5 near Seattle in 2003, when her car was bumped from behind. Her Toyota Corolla spun around and hit another vehicle head-on. The 50-year-old nursing assistant's airbag did not open. A shady repair shop had removed her airbag and inserted a plastic cover over the empty cavity. Her body hit the steering column so hard that the column buckled. In a tragic irony, Gatihi died from massive bleeding of the heart: it was Valentine's Day.
Airbag fraud is an expensive problem for auto insurers. It also is a deadly public-safety threat that endangers the lives of drivers and passengers when dishonest body shops meddle with vehicles' airbags to make illicit profit at insurance companies' expense.
“Far more than financial fraud, airbag fraud is a public-safety issue,” said Janet Bachman, vice president, claim administration, for the American Insurance Association. “It's the equivalent of installing seat belts that are not hooked up. The unsuspecting driver may be in for an incredible awakening that could kill people.”
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