Home Ownership Tips and Advice The Impact Of Collision Repair On Vehicle Safety Ratings

The Impact Of Collision Repair On Vehicle Safety Ratings

by Jordan Harris

If you drive every day, you probably don’t think of cars, trucks, and SUVs as dangerous machines, but they are. Or, at least, they have the potential to be dangerous. The best way to make vehicles safe is (of course) to drive safely. Drive cautiously and defensively and don’t speed and you’ll greatly reduce the chances of being in a collision, especially a bad collision.

But collisions happen even to the best drivers, and that’s when you’ll be glad for all the safety features in modern vehicles. How well do those safety features hold up after a collision and the collision repair process, though?

The collision repair process

The collision repair process is not universal. There are thousands of different vehicles out there and every vehicle has multiple components and systems, and each one requires a different type of repair. Furthermore, repairing a component or system that’s incurred damage due to regular wear and tear is often different from a collision repair process. Collisions, especially ones with hard impacts, often require complex repairs.

If you’re in a bad collision and you come out OK, then the safety features of your vehicle did their job. But there’s no guarantee they’ll be able to keep you safe again. Furthermore, regular repairs and maintenance can reduce the efficacy of safety features if they’re not done properly. That’s why there are vehicle safety ratings.

A competent, professional, and certified auto body repair shop can judge how safe your vehicle is and ensure it’s up to snuff. With knowledgeable and skilled auto body technicians working on your vehicle and using original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts, your vehicle will still be safe after the auto body repair. That’s why it’s always best to visit a certified collision repair shop near you.

Car damage repair and vehicle safety ratings

Before we delve into the collision repair process, it’s worthwhile going over vehicle safety ratings. These are assessments of how well vehicles protect drivers and passengers in the event of a crash. Independent agencies conduct standardized crash tests and safety evaluations to determine these safety ratings.

Agencies such as Transport Canada (an arm of the government of Canada), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, and the New Car Assessment Program provide these vehicle safety ratings for vehicles on the roads of Canada and the U.S. These ratings help consumers compare the relative safety of different makes and models.

These ratings are for specific makes and models of vehicles, not individual cars, trucks, and SUVs. This means that your personal vehicle does not have its own rating, but there probably is a rating for its make and model. Therefore, the collision repair process isn’t going to affect your vehicle’s safety rating, but it can certainly affect your safety.

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How the collision repair process affects safety

There are many good reasons to reserve your business only for certified auto body repair shops, but chief among them is safety. Nothing is more important than your safety and the safety of your loved ones. But if you visit an unqualified shop for your car damage repair, you could jeopardize that safety.

The collision repair process can affect safety in the following ways:

Restoring structural integrity

After a collision, even a seemingly small one, a vehicle’s structural components might be damaged. You need to make sure the frame of your vehicle and any crumple zones are intact and ready to keep you safe in the event of another crash. Improper repairs can weaken these structures, reducing your vehicle’s ability to absorb impact.

Reinstallation of safety features

Drivers and passengers are lucky today because our vehicles have so many safety features. We have airbags to protect us in case we crash and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) to help us avoid crashes. ADAS can include sensors to alert us if we’re drifting out of our lane or if there’s another vehicle approaching us quickly from our blind spot. Some ADAS features can even take over braking or steering in an emergency.

Auto body technicians must repair and recalibrate these systems properly. Some of these systems require precise measurement and calibration to operate effectively. For example, if an auto body technician incorrectly aligns a forward-collision warning system, it won’t detect obstacles correctly and may not warn you when you’re in danger, or give you a false alarm.

Even less cutting-edge, more traditional safety features require the skilled hand of a good auto body technician. For example, a faulty airbag replacement or an improper reconnection could mean the airbag doesn’t deploy if you have another collision. Or it deploys unnecessarily, which can also be very dangerous.

OEM parts

Replacement parts are very important to the collision repair process. You always want your auto body technicians to use OEM parts whenever possible. Using non-original or lower-quality parts can compromise safety. Auto manufacturers design OEM parts to work in perfect harmony with the other components of the make and model of your vehicle. An aftermarket part with potentially unknown provenance may not offer the same level of protection in a crash. It would also probably void any warranty you have.

Trust your car damage repair to a certified auto body repair shop

Never compromise safety. You need auto body technicians who have earned certifications in the repairs and maintenance they provide. You want a brake expert fixing your brakes, don’t you?

There are so many safety implications of the collision repair process that it’s best not to gamble. Find a certified collision repair shop near you and stay safe.

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