ABRA Auto Body & Glass Donates Car for Glass Education.

Business Editors/Automotive & Insurance Writers

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 20, 2002

ABRA Auto Body & Glass, a national damaged vehicle repair company, announced today the purchase and donation of an automobile involved in a deadly crash. ABRA is not releasing the name of the company that installed the windshield, but report that because of the windshield's improper installation the glass popped out during the accident, causing the victim to be ejected from her vehicle. Jon Fransway, brother of the deceased, joined with ABRA in donating this car to Minneapolis-based North Memorial Medical Center for use at educational seminars, continuing education classes, and fire/rescue/EMT training held to create awareness about the dangers of improperly installed windshields.

Fransway, whose sister's death has been a focus of investigations by both ABC's 20/20 and Fox News Boston, has committed himself to getting a safety message out. "I'm going beyond my personal grief to create awareness in the auto glass industry", stated Fransway. "I'm asking companies and their technicians to be the voice of the auto glass industry, and to spend more time and money on training and education and less on consumer give-aways. This is the greatest memorial I could ask for my sister."

Jeanne Fransway died in 2001 after the windshield of her 1998 Pontiac Sunfire unexpectedly popped out during a rollover crash in Wisconsin. "ABRA has been a consistent advocate of safe glass installation procedures", stated David Doherty, ABRA's National Director of Glass Operations. "We've had a joint venture with North Memorial's training division for several years, and are glad we were able to work with Jon to salvage the car his sister died in. Jon is an inspiration to all of us as he works tirelessly to find some way to deal with Jeanne's death. We stand with his message that all members of our industry must accept the seriousness of the work we perform, provide proper training to our technicians, and follow safe installation procedures based on weather conditions and other factors."

ABRA Auto Body & Glass is a national damaged vehicle repair company specializing in collision repair, paintless dent removal, and auto glass repair and replacement. Started with one repair center in 1984, they have grown to sixty-eight facilities in ten states. Their plans for accelerated national growth over the next several years include acquiring existing facilities and building new locations.