Thatcham Research has continued its plans to improve road safety through the promotion of properly functioning advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) on vehicles, with the launch of a new repair course.

The course is accredited by the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) and is designed to close an emerging skills gap among aftersales technicians that could potentially affect road safety.

Dean Lander, head of repair sector services at Thatcham Research, said: “The evolution, and widespread adoption, of ADAS features on new vehicles presents the whole repair sector with a challenge.

“It’s paramount that repaired vehicles are returned to customers with these potentially life-saving features operating as they were pre-accident.

“This course will give technicians the knowledge and skills to do that job and provide peace of mind that ADAS has been reinstated safely.”

Thatcham’s new ADAS repair course will provide necessary skills to technicians, including how to interpret information relating to a specific vehicle’s ADAS features and determine the required method of calibration.

It will also include the correct use of tools and equipment and how to identify, find and follow software-specific recalibration methods.

An estimated four million cars on the road today are fitted with Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) and all the 29 cars tested by Euro NCAP so far this year have at least one ADAS technology fitted as standard.

Lander said: “We’ve been looking for consensus on the key issues to be addressed. Chief among these are the lack of technical capability and capacity to effectively manage the current volume of ADAS in repair.

“The process continues as we work towards releasing a Code of Practice at the end of the year, to ensure a sustainable, standardised approach to the repair of ADAS-equipped vehicles.”

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