The importance of correctly recalibrating safety technology when fitting replacement windscreens will be highlighted by Nationwide Windscreen Services at a series of seminars at Fleet Management Live later this month.

Windscreens are no longer simply a piece of glass protecting occupants from the elements and providing structural support for a vehicle.

Today’s company cars are computers on wheels packed with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) that manage a plethora of aids to improve road safety including cruise control, automotive braking, adaptive lighting, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, blind spot warning and collision avoidance.

Such systems ‘view the road’ usually through the windscreen using a combination of cameras and sensors to work efficiently. Therefore, after a replacement windscreen, recalibration of the cameras has become essential to ensure the driver assistant aids continue to work as they should and support safe driving.

However, amid the advance of ADAS technology, industry research has revealed a worrying lack of awareness about the safety issue. Two in three car drivers (67%) admitted they didn’t even realise that the cameras and sensors which control such safety features were installed on or near the windscreen. 

Nationwide Windscreen Services was the first company in its sector to open a recalibration centre and is rolling them out nationally. The seminar will:

•          Explain the technology and the recalibration process
•          Outline the additional vehicle downtime and costs faced by fleets
•          Highlight the role of vehicle insurers in covering the recalibration process in policies
•          Explain the importance of a certificate proving recalibration
•          Reveal the potential risk to drivers of ignoring recalibration.

It will be be presented by Neil Hilton of Hella.

Fleets will be able to attend the seminars and find out more at Fleet Management Live, on October 19-20. Tickets are available for free at www.fleetmanagementlive.co.uk.