Ralph Nader: A Trip to Bizarro Land

Las Vegas wasn't the only place Ralph Nader visited in conjunction with his appearance at the IGA's Independents' Days Conference and Spring Auto Glass Show™. He also made a stop in Bizarro Land. Nader learned just enough about the industry to call it "a mess."

"You have to call your competitor to get permission to replace a windshield?" he asked incredulously. "This is just bizarre. You have no laws about this? And you have a group out in San Diego that comes up with prices. This is all just so bizarre. How does this go on?" he asked.

"I'll tell you how," he said. "It goes on because the people who could change it don't understand it. You've got legislators, regulators [and] judges trying to understand it. If they can't understand this, they will take no action. You are going to have to simplify it for them-so a comic book if necessary-that gets what's going on across to them. Then you need to come up with some talking points to explain what you want. You can get it done."

"I think Nader was right," said Tom Grim of All Star Auto Glass in Seattle. Grim had been active in the IGA Washington Chapter and instrumental in helping pass anti-steering legislation in that state just last month. "In my case, I had a legislator who had just had her windshield replaced and had just been steered, She took an interest because she understood it."