By Robert Bravender
If you’ve perused Automotive Report for the past few years, you’ve certainly noted the acronym ADAS showing up in a lot of articles. While some Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems have actually been around quite a while — anti-lock brakes, air bags, traction control, collision mitigation — they’re now being integrated with increasingly intricate sensor systems as the technology evolves toward self-driving cars. And with repair costs and complexity going up, the shop sector watches and wonders about the future.
Some of these shops are taking a more proactive approach. Take Advanced Tire & Auto Centers in New Jersey. When veteran mechanics Jason and Janet Bigelow opened their first shop in 1995, they started off diagnosing and servicing marques like BMW, Toyota, or Honda, basically reverse engineering what manufacturers were doing. They also noticed how Mercedes Benz had become particular advanced in the field of driver assistance.
“These cars are so intelligent that they have frontal collision avoidance, even rear collision avoidance,” explained Jason Bigelow. “If you’ve run out of skill, talent, and luck, that vehicle will …”
