“Great discussion! Thank you for your work to keep your customers safe,” tweeted Jonathan Adkins, Executive Director of the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), to @AutoGlassSafety (the AGSC Twitter handle) after a March 18 Zoom meeting between the leaderships of the GHSA and the AGSC. GHSA represents the state and territorial highway safety offices that implement federal programs to address behavioral highway safety issues.
AGSC Board Members and staff delivered a presentation to the group on the safety imperatives of proper auto glass installation with a focus on the urgency of calibration issues associated with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS).
Jacques Navant, AGSC ADAS Committee Chair, showed a video that demonstrated how easily a vehicle operating on ADAS can veer dangerously out of its lane if a calibration following a windshield replacement is off by a few millimeters. Navant informed the GHSA group that the Auto Glass Replacement Safety Standard was being updated to further address evolving ADAS related issues. Regarding faulty recalibration issues, he stated that “consequences can be slow to appear and subtle, yet fatal”.
Pursuing collaboration between the two groups is part of an ongoing effort by AGSC to engage with leading safety organizations across the country. “Working with stakeholders in the safety, particularly the automobile safety, space will help AGSC achieve its policy goals and further our mission to promote awareness of our auto glass replacement and repair standards to the insurance industry and the driving public at large,” said Seth Maiman, AGSC Director of Public Affairs.
GHSA members are the key safety officers in each state capital, often housed within the state’s Department of Transportation or of Motor Vehicles. They seek to move toward zero deaths on the nation’s roadways. GHSA’s mission is to improve traffic safety, influence national policy and promote best practices. One of its goals is to encourage innovative approaches in state safety programs.
The leaders of 16 state highway offices participated on the Zoom call along with GHSA staff. The two groups agreed to look to working together on educational messages, policy initiatives and to partner with law enforcement to collect data on windshield failures in crash investigations.
“The GHSA Executive Board had a great meeting today with @AutoGlassSafety. We discussed the dangers of faulty windshields and the impact on advanced driver assistance systems. We’re looking forward to working together to keep everyone safe”, announced GHSA on Twitter.