Field of Visionfrom the editorpstacey@glass.comNo Laughing MatterAFEW WEEKS AGO, I WENTout to eat with my husbandand a couple of his friends, allof whom are what you might call carbuffs, and one of them said somethingthat made me laugh.“You know, I just don’t understandit—they put all these safety features incars now and they’re just so heavy andcomplicated and they use so muchgas,” he said. “Do we really need allthese safety features?”At first I chimed in, telling himabout a safety feature I’d heard aboutat the recent National Auto Glass Conference—acar that measures the distancein front of it and behind itautomatically (see related story on page36). I actually was commenting on theridiculousness of this—what’s next? Acar we don’t even have to drive?But then I realized what he said reallywasn’t funny. It’s really a very seriousmatter.I told him about how General Motorsjust settled with a passenger whoclaims the company’s failure to useplastic sidelites caused him to goby Penny StaceyThe <strong>2008</strong> Volvo XC70 is equipped with a collisionavoidance package with adaptive cruise control, whichmeasures the distance between it and car in front of it.blind. Granted, a lot of people mightbelieve this was a suit-happy personlooking for a buck, but to say thatsafety features aren’t at all necessary iskind of frightening. I’m all for less government,fewer regulations, etc., but Idon’t think putting the general publicat risk is a good idea.When I was interviewing people formy feature about the Auto Glass ReplacementSafety Standard (AGRSS)on page 28, I found some disagreementover what exactly is needed inthe industry—but no one disagreedthat safety is an issue, and an importantone at that.That is why the AGRSS Council isworking toward third-party validation—inan effort to help the industry,consumers and even insurance companiesunderstand what an importantissue this truly is.But, a lot of shop owners notedthat their customers just don’t care—and they don’t see safety as important;not until something badhappens, that is.I really hope the tide is changingon this and with theaddition of thirdpartyvalidationthat consumers willtake notice of thewindshield as asafety mechanism,but, in the meantime,I’d love to hearfrom you. What doyour customersthink? Are they concernedwith theirsafety?Please e-mail me atpstacey@glass.com.■PublisherEditorManaging EditorContributing EditorsArt DirectorsAdvertisingCoordinatorExhibitManagerMarketingDirectorCustomerRelations Mgr.WebDeveloperWebCoordinatorCustomerService AssistantDebra A. LevyExtension 111 • deb@glass.comPenny StaceyExtension 148 • pstacey@glass.comShannon FletcherExtension 130 • sfletcher@glass.comCharles CumpstonExtension 153 • ccumpston@glass.comMegan HeadleyExtension 114 • mheadley@glass.comEllen RogersExtension 118 • erogers@glass.comChris BunnExtension 132 • cbunn@glass.comDawn CampbellExtension 150 • dcampbell@glass.comErin HarrisExtension 119 • eharris@glass.comTina CzarExtension 115 • tczar@glass.comHolly Biller, vice presidentExtension 123 • hbiller@glass.comJaneen MulliganExtension 112 • jmulligan@glass.comBryan HoveyExtension 125 • bhovey@glass.comKim JohnsonExtension 155 • kjohnson@glass.comBetsy LathropExtension 0 • blathrop@glass.comContributing David Casey Russ CorsiColumnists Steve Coyle Gary HartJames Patterson Dale MalcolmPaul Syfko Carl TompkinsKerry Wanstrath Dave ZoldowskiMidwestNortheast &Eastern CanadaSoutheastWest Coast &Western CanadaEuropeChina & AsiaPublished by KeyCommunications Inc.385 Garrisonville Road, Suite 116Stafford, VA 22554540/720-5584; fax 540/720-5687Advertising Offices:Lisa Naugle,Associate Publisherlnaugle@glass.comPhone 312/850-0899Fax 312/277-2912Deb Levydeb@glass.comPhone 540/720-5584 x111Fax 540/720-5687Scott Ricklessrickles@glass.comPhone 770/664-4567Fax 770/740-1399Ed Mitchellemitchell@glass.comPhone 805/445-4805Fax 805/445-4806Patrick Connollypatco@glass.com699 Kings RoadWestcliff on SeaEssex SS0 8PH ENGLANDPhone (44) 1-702-477341Fax (44) 1-702-477559Sean Xiaosxiao@glass.comRm.403, Block 17, Wuyimingzhu,No.6 Jinshan RoadFuzhou, Fujian, 350001, China.Phone (86) 591 83863000All Others Contact Publisher DirectlyMember,4 <strong>AGRR</strong> <strong>March</strong>/<strong>April</strong> <strong>2008</strong> www.agrrmag.com
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