Attendees at the recent Collision Industry Electronic Commerce Association (CIECA) “Connex” conference heard about efforts to automate research of OEM repair information, watched a live vehicle crash test at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), and were told that some technology automakers are adding to vehicles actually may be adding to driver distraction.
The conference location in Charlottesville, Va., allowed for an afternoon tour of IIHS’ nearby facility, where CIECA attendees witnessed a 37-mph side impact crash test of a 2019 Toyota Camry.
Speaking at the conference the next day, Kim Hazelbaker of the Highway Loss Data Institute said some advanced driver assistance systems are proving to reduce the number or severity of some accidents. But he also said that automakers and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are at-odds about the growing amount of “electronic content” vehicle-makers want to deliver to drivers via the center dashboard screen. The NHTSA views such content as likely to increase driver distraction.
“That is fundamentally exactly what the regulators do not want to happen,” Hazelbaker said. “The manufacturers are convinced ‘there’s money in them thar hills,’ and I think they’re right, but from a safety perspective, it’s the wrong message. So we’ll see how that plays out. I might have had a different opinion [of what might happen] if we had a different administration, but there’s not going to be regulation about this at this point. It’s a problem.”
Hazelbaker said nothing state lawmakers have done, such as banning use of hand-held cell phones while driving, has helped reduce distracted driving.
“We have compared [those] states to all the states around them that didn’t change anything in their regulations, and we can’t find that passing a state law makes any difference,” he said. “That’s because nobody pays any attention. You’re putting a law on the books that’s essentially unenforceable for the policing agencies.”
Hazelbaker said insurance companies and his organization continue to seek solutions to distracted driving.
“We’re not giving up, but I think it’s going to get worse,” he said.
Also during the conference, Pete Tagliapietra of NuGen IT offered a demonstration of a system his company is developing that he said will help automate OEM repair information based on estimate line items. A 50-line estimate, including some structural repair, for a 2018 Subaru Outback was exported into the system that is linked to Subaru’s electronic service information. It compiled the specific information for estimated repair items on that vehicle, such as sectioning information for the quarter panel, along with related safety precautions, position statements and calibration information.
"It’s filtered down to exactly what the collision repair shop needs, and only the information that it needs, so they don’t have to go perform additional searches,” Tagliapietra said. “It’s all provided and served up for them.”
OEM information that has been added or changed within the past 30 days is highlighted.
“Procedures are constantly changing, so what procedures were used when a collision shop repaired a car is important to memorialize,” Tagliapietra said.
The compiled information could be printed or saved as electronic documentation not only to help shops save time in researching the needed information, but also to document for insurers, customers and automakers what was called for on the vehicle. Tagliapietra said he hopes to be working to expand and refine the system with a Top 5 automaker later this year.
Another speaker at the event, Sean Guthrie, director of operations for the seven Car Crafters Collision Centers in Albuquerque, N.M., said OEM procedure research is time-consuming because the automakers each organize their information differently.
“When you replace a rail, for instance, it will tell you everything you need to do to replace that rail, but all the diagrams will have the engine out,” Guthrie said. “So you need to go to the mechanical section to find out how to take the engine out. And then you may need to go somewhere else to figure out how to take all the electrical components off.”
That seems like a tough challenge for the NuGen IT system to overcome, Guthrie said, but it would be “awesome” if it does.
“I’m sure Pete would say it’s not there yet, but his thinking is what is going to get us there someday, so I commend Pete and his company for doing that,” Guthrie said.
Attendees at the CIECA conference also had an opportunity to attend a “Recycled Rides” presentation in which the National Auto Body Council gave a refurbished vehicle to a “Gold Star” family in Charlottesville, a presentation that received news coverage by the local NBC and CBS television affiliates.
