Auto Glass Safety Council™

Tag: ADAS Calibration

  • Making Lemonade: Car Totaled During Calibration Sparks Safety Advancement

    Everyone knows not to text and drive. It’s common sense that looking down at a device, even for a split second, can get you into a life-altering wreck. But what happens when you’re a technician performing a dynamic Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) calibration and you have to look down at a tablet to check your progress?

    José Gomez of Don’s Mobile Glass in Modesto, California, found that out the hard way. He was on the road doing a recalibration, something he does 10 or more times a day with no problem, when he glanced down at the system’s tablet. In the brief instant he took his eyes away from the road, he drove the brand new Ford truck he was working on directly into the car in front of him.

    Jacques Navant says they were able to turn what was initially a bad situation into one that could potentially further safety in the industry.

    “We ended up turning a bad situation into a great situation,” says Jacques Navant, the technical director for Don’t Mobile Glass as well as president of the AGSC. “The truck was totaled, so we ended up buying the truck. And that ended up with all of us upstairs in the training room for a brainstorming session.”

    During that session, Tyler Manual from Don’s Mobile asked, “Why can’t it be voice-activated? Why can’t the tablet just tell you when the calibration is done?”

    Navant liked this idea, so he brought it to their ADAS calibration equipment supplier, Launch Tech USA. The company’s engineering team also liked the idea.

    “Pretty much 48 hours later, we were testing software with voice-activated alerts telling us the calibration was complete, eliminating the need for the technician to look down at the tablet.”

    Navant says he hopes this feature will help keep drivers calibrating safety systems out of unsafe situations in the future.

    “It’s just another example of how AGSC is proactive in advancing safety,” he says. “I hope other calibration manufacturers follow suit.”

  • Auto Glass Calibration Bill Introduced in New York

    A New York State Senator introduced auto glass calibration legislation on March 24, 2024.  The bill, S 8890, has been assigned to the Senate Committee on Consumer Protection.

    The legislation would establish “standards for glass repair and calibration of advanced driver assistance systems”.

    Under the proposal, a glass “repair facility” performing repair, replacement or calibration on an ADAS-equipped vehicle would be required to inform the consumer if a recalibration was required and that the recalibration would meet the motor vehicle manufacturer’s specifications.  The glass shop would need to provide the consumer with an itemized description of the work to be done. Further, the shop cannot represent that the work would be done at no cost to the consumer if it is not fully covered by the consumer’s insurance policy, and cannot contract for the work until it has received a claim or referral number for the insurance coverage damage.

    Prior to finalizing a contract, the glass shop shall also notify the consumer whether there is an ADAS system, recalibration is required, that it can perform the recalibration in a manner that meets manufacturer’s specifications, and if not capable of performing the recalibration, that the vehicle needs to be taken to facility qualified to do so.

    If a recalibration is unsuccessful, the glass company would be required to inform the consumer and the insurance company.  The glass company would not be limited to glass, tools, equipment or repair procedures dictated or recommended by the motor vehicle manufacturer to meet the manufacturer’s specifications.

    Violations would be liable for a fine of $2,500 per occurrence.

    All of the provisions of the bill have been considered or enacted by other states where similar auto glass calibration legislation has been proposed in recent years.

    Text of the legislation can be found HERE.

  • Florida Assignment of Benefits Legislation and Tort Reform

    The 60-day 2023 Florida Legislative Session runs from March 7-May 5. The state’s lawmakers will be considering several pieces of legislation that affect the auto glass business, principally regarding the Assignment of Benefits laws and tort reform/auto insurance reform.

    Senator Linda Stewart has reintroduced her Assignment of Benefits bill (SB 1002) that has failed to move forward in the previous two years. Once again, the bill would prohibit glass and repair shops from offering an inducement to a customer for making an insurance claim for vehicle glass replacement or repair. But the new bill extends the prohibition on the inducement to include services for recalibration of an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS). Senator Stewart has also added provisions that prohibit policyholders (such as customers) from entering into an Assignment of Benefits for glass replacement or repair, including recalibration. In addition, the bill would ensure that businesses that calibrate or recalibrate ADAS associated with windshields are regulated under the Florida Motor Vehicle Repair Act, adding the ADAS-related service to the 19 listed prohibitions and requirements already contained in the Act, including a new one, requiring notice to the customer of the need for recalibration. SB 1002 has been assigned to the Banking and Insurance and the Commerce and Tourism Committees for handling. For text of the bill CLICK HERE.

    Representative Phillip Griffits has introduced HB 541 that is similar to SB 1002, also prohibiting incentives to induce an Assignment of Benefits for windshield replacement and recalibration services as well as prohibiting policyholders from entering into an Assignment of Benefits for glass replacement or repair, including for recalibration of ADAS. Additionally, this bill would allow auto insurance companies to offer, but not require insureds to accept, a deductible of up to $250 for claims of “damage” to automotive windshield glass replacement or repair, and if there is a deductible in place, it would prohibit its application to cases where there was damage to the vehicle in addition to the windshield. HB 541 has been assigned to the Commerce Committee and was heard in the Banking & Insurance Subcommittee on March 14. The text of the bill can be found HERE.

    HB 837 is a priority tort reform effort led by Governor DeSantis and legislative leaders that would make major changes to remedies under Florida’s civil justice system. It changes the state’s “pure” comparative negligence system to a “modified” comparative negligence system so that plaintiffs who are found to be more at fault for their own injuries than the defendant would not generally recover damages from the defendant. The bill makes numerous changes to the calculation of damages and liability and modifies the state’s “bad faith” framework for insurance companies. It is being considered by the Judiciary Committee and the text of the most recent committee substitute bill is HERE.

    Another tort reform bill, SB 738, would place limits on judgements for punitive and compensatory damages for certain claims related to unlawful employment practices. For text of the bill CLICK HERE.