Make sure your mechanic is certified
Repairing today’s cars is as much about keyboards and software as it is socket tools
You are driving 120 km/h on the Coquihalla when a deer jumps on to the road ahead of you.
It takes over 100 metres to come to a complete stop — as long as your brakes are in optimal condition. Even if your brakes were worked on recently, the question is were they done correctly? Was the automotive technician who performed the service properly trained and certified?
While many automotive technicians spend the four years it takes to become Red Seal certified, currently in British Columbia, certification is not required to work on a vehicle. Anyone with a set of tools and a garage can call themselves an automotive technician.
This might have been acceptable 20 years ago, 10 even when being mechanically minded and possessing a working knowledge of internal combustion engines was enough. However, these days, cars are more electronic than mechanical and an automotive technician needs to be as tech-savvy as they are ‘good with their hands.’ Just as cars have evolved over the last century, so too have the skills required of the technicians servicing them.
According to the Canadian Motor Vehicle Traffic Collision Statistics, collision-related fatalities are decreasing — from 2,919 fatalities in 1998 to 1,841 in 2017. Even with twice the number of vehicles on the road since 1998, collision-related fatalities have reduced. This could be attributed to modern structural integrity resulting in increased protection of vehicle occupants and technological advancements that can assist with preventing collisions, both which have helped improve vehicle safety in the last 20 years.
Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) have revolutionized the automotive industry. Back-up cameras, lane-departure warning, automatic braking and blindspot detection along with weather and road condition sensors are all examples of computerized safety features installed in modern vehicles. As cars become more complex, the operator of the vehicle will become increasingly more reliant on these systems to keep them safe.
However, with more complexity come more opportunities for something to go wrong — especially if one of these safety devices is not correctly serviced or calibrated following a repair.
Back to that deer. Your automatic brake system kicks in but it’s winter and your car slides on ice and, instead of hitting the deer, you slide into a snow bank. Thankfully, no one is injured and you only damaged a headlight and the grill of your vehicle.
No harm done, right? Wrong. Safety sensors enclosed within that grill and headlight are no longer functioning at optimum capacity and must be repaired to the manufacturer’s specifications before relying on them again.
So, you take your vehicle to your mechanic — a good guy who has been in business for decades and claims that none of the fancy new equipment on the market can replace good old-fashioned knowhow. He replaces the headlights, grill, and buffs out any minor dents. On the surface, your vehicle is good to go again.
Everything seems to be working just fine. However, the sensors were never recalibrated and are now off by a couple of millimetres in the wrong direction. Suddenly the field of view has shifted and the garbage can at the side of the road registers as an obstacle. The vehicle, sensing an imminent collision even though this is not the case, brakes automatically and you are rear-ended by the vehicle behind.
The very systems designed to keep you safe failed because your technician did not have the proper training or equipment to perform the repair to the standard your vehicle requires.
When you are driving a vehicle with the potential to harm you and others sharing the road, it is imperative that your vehicle is serviced and maintained by an automotive technician who is qualified to do so. ‘Qualified’ means knowing where to find the correct procedures and specifications, having been trained and certified in those types of operations and having the proper tools and equipment needed to ensure a complete and safe repair.
The Automotive Retailers Association (ARA) is working alongside stakeholders towards compulsory trade certification to, not only ensure automotive technicians are repairing and servicing your vehicle to optimal performance, but also so you are safe on the road.
So the next time your car is in for repairs, ask if your vehicle has ADAS, and if so where? Does the shop have the equipment to recalibrate it to manufacture specifications? And, is the technician performing the service Red Seal certified?
Your life might depend on it.