Crash test results support early speculation over unsafe repair
Crash test results support early speculation over unsafe repair
In November 2005, Melbourne-based crash repair network, Accident Solutions conducted a successful ‘Australian-first’ crash test to prove that poor body repairs compromise safety.
An independent comparative analysis was conducted on the data collected from the crash test of the post-repair vehicle and of a new vehicle of the same model. The test results showed that the repaired vehicle had significantly worse crash results than the new vehicle.
Vehicle crush data measurements and crash dummy response data indicated that the repaired vehicle demonstrated an increased risk of injury to the occupants. This was because of reduced energy absorption caused by the failure of the instrument panel cross beam and the rupture of the floor pan near the driver’s seat.
The rupture of the floor pan significantly affected driver safety through uncontrolled intrusion and increased lower leg loads by over 300 per cent. Because the vehicle was involved in another (test) accident, force from the impact caused significantly more intrusion to the driver than expected by the vehicle’s engineers.
In addition, the reduced energy absorption found in the previously repaired vehicle increased the risk of injury to the occupants, as they would have experienced higher levels of severe impact and increased loads applied through seat belts and air bags.
Jerry Altun, managing director of Accident Solutions is not surprised by the results of the crash test and comparative analysis.
‘For years, the accident repair industry has faced problems arising from repairs being conducted to a price rather than a standard," he said.
"The results reinforce our position that cars repaired by smash repairers under an insurance claim do not always meet specified safety criteria and are often returned to the owner in a compromised state of safety, and do not meet pre-accident manufacturer’s standards.
‘With insurance companies pinching pennies, authorising unqualified assessors and the use of poor quality, non-genuine parts, the insurance industry has been given licence to regulate the work of the crash repairer and thereby play with human life.
‘When it comes to safety and lives being endangered, there are serious consequences that arise when crash repairs are not up to the manufacturer’s original specifications."
According to Accident Solutions, 95 per cent of motor body repairers conform to insurers’ demands regarding the parts and materials they will use and how much time they can spend to repair the vehicle.
Accident Solutions comprises a group of professional motor body repairers dedicated to a common set of ideals, ethics and a code of conduct to be followed in delivering accident repair services. Current membership in Melbourne stands at 23 covering the greater Melbourne area, with 25 members being the optimum in this market sector.
It is the group’s position that quoting methods and the pressure applied to repairers by insurers via multiple quote and performance-based contracts is the contributing factor towards unsafe smash repairs plaguing the Australian industry.
The group observes that while motor vehicle insurance premiums rise every year, returns to repairers fall. The pressures placed on smash repairers continue to diminish the control that consumers have over the processes involved in the services for which they have paid.
At a recent hearing of the NSW Staysafe committee Accident Solutions was invited to present the footage and data obtained from the crash test. The Staysafe committee has since put forward a number of key recommendations to ensure the future safety of the accident repair industry.
The committee recommended that insurance companies suspend using financial penalties against accident repairers who find and report further damage to a motor vehicle during repair, and to reintroduce policy holder choice of repairer so that motor vehicle owners can nominate their own accident repairer.
The committee also recommended the development of a recording and reporting method for vehicles that have undergone major repairs as a way of monitoring the safety of the vehicles and to remove unscrupulous repairers from the industry.
The Staysafe Committee wants to see more crash tests on post-accident repaired vehicles to monitor the industry in terms of safety and to encourage repairs are performed to a standard, rather than to a price.
Accident Solutions believes that without the information obtained from its crash test in November last year, it is likely that findings by the Staysafe committee and its subsequent recommendations would have been delayed, leaving vehicle owners compromised through less on-road safety and a possible increase in road injury and death from road accidents.
