Rear View mirrors have been around for more than a century. Starting with the interior mirrors which gives a great view of rear vehicles for the driver. Slowly integrating to also having exterior automotive mirrors due to the changing US Highway System in the 1960’s-70’s. These exterior automotive mirrors helped a little more with changing lanes and such. Although they assisted the driver with seeing adjacent vehicles, they didn’t help with the continuous issue with Blind Spot and Cross-traffic accidents.
The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) was established in 1970 when the Highway Safety Act of 1970 was passed. This act was made to help decrease the number of accidents, injuries and fatalities when it comes to vehicles’ safety precautions (New Car Assessment Program). NHTSA also manages much more than just that, but those actions from them are not relevant to this article.
From the 2022 newly released assessment, ADAS has been reviewed and the NHTSA has decided to add Blind Spot Detection Technologies to the annual inspection testing procedures. The Blind Spot Detection category will consist of testing the blind spot warning (BSW), blind spot intervention (BSI), and lane change/merge warning. From the pre-crash report, the Blind Spot Detection category out of all crashes, 8.7% were crashes, 1.6% had fatalities, 6.7% included 1-5 injuries, and 11.8% consisted of property damage only vehicles. All together, 28.8% of all accidents were caused by faulty blind spot detection/intervention systems and lane change occurrences. Rear-end collisions have the highest number of injuries, which is about 31.5% out of all non-fatal injuries.
ADAS features in vehicles are to help the driver. Although we find convenience in these systems, an alert driver doesn’t necessarily need them. Blind Spot sensors are a much needed system because even if a driver is alert, the time it takes to look away to the blind spot area to change lanes could be crucial seconds from an accident. To distinguish the difference and importance of the Blind Spot sensor repairs from other ADAS systems, the manufacturer presses a sheet metal to exact proportions and measurements for the quarter panels. This way the blind spot sensors, lights, etc. are placed exactly where they are supposed to be. When repairing the quarter panel after a collision, it’s quite impossible to get it back to its original state. Once everything is repaired or replaced, the Blind Spot sensors need to be adjusted to the correct angles. When doing so, the angles need to be as precise as possible due to the quarter panels not being in the factory setting.
More importantly, the inside issue with Blind Spots is that body shops are having trouble with the time consuming procedure to align the sensors back to factory specifications. They also have no way to document the angles measured and time taken to do this procedure. Thus making it inaccessible to bill said time and repairing the quarter panel. These body shops have been billing without a proper method of documentation. With the NHTSA adding Blind Spot inspections to the assessment, body shops need a way to repair, align, estimate and bill efficiently and effectively so their customer’s vehicles are not coming back for the blind spots a second time.
Introducing ADAS Aiming to the equation can change every shop’s perspective on Blind Spot jobs. ADAS Aiming is a tool manufacturing company that made a plan to fix this issue for all body shops in the collision industry. They wanted to give the industry a way to expand their estimates, make sure the vehicles are not returned for the blind spots and increase billable hours for their benefit and the techs.
Talking to the President of the company, he stated, “I used my real world experience to help me form this innovative idea so not only could I help my business but others as well.” Jack Short had the technician and the body shop in mind when designing his tools. His idea led to the manufacturing of the CJ-Line of Tools from ADAS Aiming. This line is their exclusive Blind Spot Alignment Tools with 3 different models. Each one is based on the volume of the body shop(s), or how many blind spot alignment repairs your shop takes in. The 3 models are: The CJM-908 (Mat Model), The CJP-907 (Plate Model), and the CJD-909 (Deluxe Model). Each one is equipped with visual references giving you or your technician the ability to see if the angle of the sensor needs adjusting or not while measuring. These models make the job the most efficient, documentable and profitable.
ADAS Aiming’s CJ-Line of Tools gives the perfect opportunity for all shops to measure and adjust the blind spot sensor(s) back to factory specifications efficiently and estimate/bill effectively including documentation with ADAS Aiming’s GTE P Page. So how exactly does this tool line solve today’s problem?
We all know that when setting up the center line for any vehicle with the manufacturer’s instructions and specific tools, it can be heavily time consuming and complicated. ADAS Aiming’s CJM-908 Mat model does still include the centerline set up but you won’t have to make sure every measurement around the vehicle is precise because the centerline is the only requirement needed to set up this tool. With the CJP-907 and CJD-909, there is no required centerline set up. The Plate and Deluxe models have Rim tabs which are placed flushed with the wheel of the vehicle essentially creating the invisible centerline. Of course a wheel alignment must be done before measuring the blind spots with these tools. The collection also includes RSA units that are vertical rulers which help find the horizontal angle of the blind spot sensor or bracket. Each one also has visual references on the tool for the naked eye to see where the misalignment is when measuring the sensor/bracket. The CJM-908 and CJP-907 both have lines which give the most precise measurements when done correctly. The CJD-909 does not have the lines since this tool is the most advanced out of all three models. The plate on the Deluxe model is small and has a precisely straight frame so when measuring the horizontal angle, the protractor provided is just lined up with the frame of the plate and the base of the RSA unit.
ADAS Aiming’s Blind Spot Alignment collection is not only simple, quick and efficient, but the tools also provide accurate measurements for documentation for the insurance companies. ADAS Aiming has made a Guide to Estimating P Page specific for making estimates and bills when the CJ-line of tools are used in the repair process. In this GTE P Page, they give descriptions of each service when repairing such as R&I the Bumper, Measuring the sensors/brackets, Minimal Adjustments and Substantial Adjustments. This GTE P Page can help every estimator/tech with creating these estimates and bills for the insurance companies and other shops if needed.
In conclusion, with one of these tools in-house, you or your shop can profit, get accurate measurements, have a guide to estimating and billing, and move those vehicles out on your terms. This tool line will help every shop or mobile technician decrease repeat repair vehicles and assist their customers’ to pass the vehicle annual inspections. These new technologies for vehicles require new body shop tools.
Citations
“Adas, BSD, BCW ,Lane Assist, Blind Spot Radar Sensor Repair Tools.” ADAS Aiming, 19 Aug. 2019, https://adasaiming.com/.
“New Car Assessment Program.” Regulations.gov, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 9 March 2022, https://www.regulations.gov/document/NHTSA-2021-0002-0001.
Reina , Richard. “A Brief History of the High-Tech Safety Features in Your Car.” Automoblog, Auto Media LLC, 31 July 2021, https://www.automoblog.net/brief-history-high-tech-safety-features/.