Copyright 2002 The Tribune Co. Publishes The Tampa Tribune The Tampa Tribune
August 18, 2002, Sunday, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: METRO, Pg. 2
LENGTH:
497 words
HEADLINE: Car Repairs? What's It Worth
To You?
BYLINE: JIM SLOAN ,
jsloan@tampatrib.com; This weekly column will address commuter concerns and take
a light-hearted look at issues every motorist faces. To let us know what bugs
you, call Jim Sloan at (813) 259-7691.
BODY: Got a favorite mechanic? Hate getting gouged when you take your car to
the dealer for repairs?
Then you'd better listen to
what Ed Schatzman has to say.
Schatzman, vice president
of Automotive Services for AAA Auto Club South, is lobbying for a federal law he
says could decide the fate of America's small, independent repair shops.
Called the Motor Vehicle Owners Right to
Repair Act, it would require auto manufacturers to share repair information
that is now kept secret.
With the advent of antilock
brakes, airbags and electronic traction and stability control systems, repair
information is often controlled by a computer inside the vehicle - a computer
only car dealers can access.
"When you get into the
electronics of the automobile, the timing, fuel injection, there could be codes
built in that exclude the independent repair shops," Schatzman said.
That means car owners often have no choice but to take
their cars to a dealer when it breaks down, even when they are miles from the
nearest one.
Facing Opposition
The federal bill, being debated in committee, "is going to
allow the person who has his or her favorite mechanic to continue to have that
mechanic work on their car," Schatzman said.
He's not
sure how much opposition the proposal will face from dealer-owned repair shops,
but it's bound to raise some hackles, Schatzman said.
"It obviously creates more work for them to disseminate the
information," Schatzman said.
------ Older
And On The Road
That little old blue-haired lady who
drives 35 mph in the freeway fast lane may drive you nuts, but get used it.
There will be a lot more of them in coming years. In the next
decade, as the post-World War II baby boomers age, the portion of the nation's
drivers older than 65 - now about 10 percent - will increase rapidly, according
to a recent article in the American Journal of Public Health.
Dan Foley of the National Institute on Aging and other analysts studied
driving habits of Americans 70 and older.
The data
showed 88 percent of men were still driving in their early 70s, and 55 percent
were still driving at 85 and older.
The problem, he
says, is that, when elderly people finally do give up driving for health
reasons, they are usually too frail to use the traditional bus system. They need
specialized transportation such as handicapped-friendly vans.
"People come out of their cars for health reasons," he said. "Those
reasons preclude them from switching over to mass transit."
If anyone can persuade politicians to finance specialized mass transit
for the elderly, however, it's boomers, Foley said.
"The baby boomer generation is a very demanding and spoiled
generation," he said. "They are going to be insisting on it."
In the meantime, Foley preached patience with older drivers.
"Most of us say the older drivers are going too slow," he
said. "The truth is, they are doing the speed limit, and for most of us, that's
too damn slow."
