I-CAR Seeking Inspection Details

April 22, 2021
The organization's new SRS Inspection Feedback Form aims to gather information from repairers about OEM procedures regarding inspections.

April 22, 2021—The Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair is seeking information from collision repairers about safety inspections that are called for as part of OEM repair procedures.

I-CAR is doing so through its recently launched SRS Inspection Feedback Form, and plans to pass on the data gathered to OEMs, auto body shops, and insurers.

The form says the organization is specifically seeking information about inspections following airbag or seatbelt pretensioner deployment, but Scott VanHulle, I-CAR manager, RTS and OEM Relations, says repairers can relay info about steering columns, dashboards, or "anything you have to inspect after a collision."

VanHulle says industry partners asked I-CAR to gather information on such safety inspections in order to get past anecdotal examples and to better nail down when inspections are needed, what people are seeing, and how to do the inspections properly.

"This form is meant to get a much broader look at the industry, of what they're finding, and what they're not finding," he says. "We want hard data so we can report out to the OEMs."

Part of I-CAR's aims with the data gathering, VanHulle says, is to see if OEM repair data is validated, and to get specific examples of damage that causes a need for inspections. He also says the work could help raise awareness of OEM repair procedures that require such safety inspections.

"There definitely is a lag [in awareness]," he says. "There are some shops that are doing these inspections to the letter of the law, and there are others that aren't even aware that they should be doing these inspections."

VanHulle says the lack of awareness is similar to issues surrounding pre- and post-repair scanning, ADAS calibrations, and how changes in OEM repair procedures are altering the way people are used to carrying out other types of repairs.

"In the industry right now the hot button topics are around ADAS, electric vehicles, but these old issues are still out there," he says. "This [data gathering] will help inform the industry, OEMs, it will be brought into I-CAR training."

I-CAR is seeking information about inspections that run the gamut from interesting to mundane, VanHulle says, noting that repairers sharing findings they'd expect helps as much as something that's unexpected.

"We want a lot of data," he says.

The SRS Inspection Feedback Form also includes the option to attach photographs. Says Vanhulle, "the more pictures we can get the easier it is to tell that story."

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