AUTOFORE Study on the Future Options for Roadworthiness Enforcement in the European Union

Transcription

1 AUTOFORE WP540 - The non-periodical inspection of vehicles after accidents Contents 1 Inspection after Accidents Increased Road Safety Reduction of Vehicle Theft Reduction of Illegal Work Consumer Protection Prevention of Fraud Financial Benefits The Views of Different Groups Examples for the Inspection after Accidents Possible Inspection Scheme Way of Reporting Way of Inspection Recommendations Comments to the BAST - Research Report Inspection of vehicles after severe accidents by Prof. Dr. Klaus Rompe (January 2002) Page 1 of 20

2 1 Inspection after Accidents After an accident the roadworthiness of a vehicle is, depending on the crash severity, reduced or not existent at all. This case is actually already incorporated in the existing regulations. A vehicle always needs to fulfill the safety and environmental requirements. This compliance with the law is within the regular vehicle inspection performed by inspection organizations and within the irregular vehicle inspection (here: roadside inspection) checked by police forces. This existing roadworthiness assurance system already is very comprehensive. Still, too many vehicles, for a too long period of time are not incorporated into this scheme. This creates the need for an additional irregular inspection, which deals with the roadworthiness after accidents. Many benefits are attributed to this additional inspection: - Increased Road Safety - Reduction of Vehicle Theft - Reduction of Illegal Work - Consumer Protection - Prevention of Fraud 1.1 Increased Road Safety Vehicles involved in road traffic accidents certainly have, due to the occurred damage, a lowered roadworthiness level. The remaining grade of roadworthiness depends on the crash severity. This starts at still fully roadworthy, for example little scratches at the paint surface and ends at out of service, for example a totally wrecked car. Any vehicle, which has a roadworthiness level other than still fully roadworthy, needs to be repaired. Otherwise, it is a threat to the general road traffic. Most of the vehicles involved in an accident get fixed. Differences exist in the way they get repaired. These are the extent and the quality. This mainly depends on the individual economical situation of the vehicle owner and conclusively on the vehicle s age. Also the vehicle owner s attitude towards road safety is an important factor. Older vehicles tend to be repaired on a low quality level and the most essential / obvious parts only. The main possibilities to repair a vehicle are: - Garages Owned / Franchised by Vehicle Manufacturers - independent garages - Do It Yourself Garages Owned / Franchised by Vehicle Manufacturers The highest quality of the repair can certainly be attributed to the garages owned / franchised by vehicle manufacturers. This is mainly due to the extensive vehicle type specific knowledge and the availability of special tools. Other factors are quality assurance systems and the typical customers of these garages. Usually, the customers of these garages own a newer car and have a relatively good economical situation. This often includes comprehensive car insurance. Page 2 of 20

3 Independent Garages A little lower quality of the repair can be expected from independent garages. The reasons are the missing vehicle type specific knowledge and missing special tools. Further, the independent garages have their own typical customers. They tend to own an older vehicle and have an average financial background. This makes them leaving out the one or the other repair. Do It Yourself Compared to the other two, the do it yourself method certainly has the lowest quality of the repair. Often the appropriate knowledge and appropriate tools are missing. Further, the most essential parts will be provisionally repaired, only. A good example for this is the electronically controlled safety system. This is expensive and difficult to repair. Basic, rather than comprehensive, car insurances are typical for this group. The previous classifications are meant to describe the average. There are exceptions. For example, a do it yourself repair can be of much higher quality than one in a professional garage. To put the classifications in an appropriate context, Germany is taken as an example. The distribution for accident related repairs in Germany in the year 2004 is the following one. Percent Type of Repair 52% in Garages owned / franchised by vehicle manufacturers 35% in Independent garages 10% Do it yourself 3% Not specified DAT Report 2005, KFZ-Betrieb These percentages show that many vehicles are not repaired on the highest possible quality level. The garages owned / franchised by vehicle manufacturers are not excluded from faults done at a repair. The lower the repair quality is, the higher is the amount of faulty performed repairs and therefore the probability of being involved in an accident / having an accident of higher severity. Germany has about 54.5 million (2004, BASt) vehicles. According to official records 2.3 million (2004, BASt) vehicles are annually involved in an accident. According to independent estimations (Rompe, TUEV R/B-B, 2001), passenger vehicles only can be accounted for 5 million accidents. The large difference is due to not reported single accidents or not reported accidents of low severity. This large unknown number of not reported accidents probably increases the percentage of do it yourself repairs. Even a very low percentage of faulty or partly repaired vehicles, is a threat to all road users. The example of Germany shows that this very low percentage of the estimated 5 million damaged vehicles could sum up to several thousands (several ten thousands), which pose a severe threat to all road users. An inspection after accidents could reduce the amount of not roadworthy vehicles a lot. Experiences from authorized vehicle inspectors in Germany support the possible increase of road safety by this measure. The inspectors increasingly report not or faulty repaired accidents, which they recognize within a periodic technical motor vehicle inspection. Besides sheer outer body damages, also safety relevant parts (lighting, steering, tires and others) are not or not adequately repaired after an accident. Page 3 of 20

4 1.2 Reduction of Vehicle Theft The reduction of vehicle theft is an important part of a check for a proper performed repair. An often performed procedure is the following one. The registration certificates and vehicle identification numbers (VIN) of a totally wrecked car are bought. The corresponding damaged vehicle is crushed or sold in single pieces. An almost perfectly matching vehicle will be stolen and given the wrecked vehicle s identity. The inspection after accidents is supposed to reduce these criminal activities and increase the traceability if done this way. The number of this kind of vehicle thefts is not known. It is supposed to be very high though. 1.3 Reduction of Illegal Work The reduction of illegal work is supposed be reduced by the inspection after accidents. It happens that people don t pass the repair bill on to their insurance, but rather let their insurance pay cash for the occurred damage. The cash money is used for cheaper illegal work. The government does not get the value added tax (VAT) and the social security system loses money, too. This, at first hand, is a benefit for the individual, but does not pay out at the end for the whole community. 1.4 Consumer Protection Consumer protection is another important benefit of the inspection after accidents. Partly or faulty repaired vehicles are a threat to the consumer in many ways. The already mentioned reduced roadworthiness may be the most dangerous threat. Another large threat is of financial nature. Vehicles are often sold as never had an accident. These vehicles are theoretically worth more than vehicles, which have had an accident before. An inspection after accidents scheme would record these in detail and therefore every accident would be traceable for every vehicle. More important than value loss due to have had / have had not an accident before are the possible costs for the vehicle owners afterwards. Partly or faulty repaired vehicles need to be put back into a save condition, which is often connected to high costs. Repairs are sometimes performed for the most obvious parts, only. In these cases, underneath the new paint severe damages can be found. 1.5 Prevention of Fraud The prevention of fraud is an important possible benefit of an inspection after accidents. The most common severe fraud being performed is the intentional crash. Accidents are provoked, in which an innocent car driver can be blamed for the crash. Popular with these criminals is the right of way. Foreign drivers in complex traffic situations, who don t have the right of way, but take it, because they do not know any better at the moment are chosen by the criminals. The vehicle used by the criminals, is involved in similar crashes many times. These vehicles are repaired for the visual parts, only. Still, the insurances pay the whole damage. An inspection after accidents could reveal these frauds. Innocent car drivers would be protected and the insurances would safe a lot of money. 1.6 Financial Benefits Financial Benefits are attributed to an inspection after accidents in many ways. More road safety decreases the costs occurred to the whole economy. These are savings in health care, insurance costs, at the scene help and many other factors. Reduction in vehicle theft will save money. Reduction of illegal work will increase revenues for the state and for example health insurance. Consumer protection will save the individual a lot of money. Prevention of fraud Page 4 of 20

5 will save the insurances a lot of money. The overall benefit of all together can not be estimated. Too many unknown factors exist. More variables are to be regarded, if the different inspection systems are taken into account. The costs on the other side are not possible to be estimated, yet. A detailed comprehensive research project is needed for this. Too many factors are to be regarded. Each inspection system causes different cost. Each country is different as well, due the different economies. For all these unknowns, this paper focuses on the qualitative way of evaluating the costs for the different systems. 1.7 The Views of Different Groups Within the Autofore Project questionnaires have been sent to all kind of interest groups in Europe. The major groups were governmental agencies, inspection organizations and other stakeholders. The other stakeholders group consisted of inspection equipment manufacturers, vehicle manufacturers, the motor vehicle retail and repair industry and similar. Overall, 57 questionnaires have been filled out by these vehicle experts. A question, these vehicle experts answered, was the following one: Should technical inspection be performed after accidents? Answer Percent Yes 65 Already done in my region 23 No 7 Not known 5 The majority favors the inspection after accidents. A small percentage disagrees with the inspection after accidents. The percentages were similar in the mentioned interest groups. For example the other stakeholders have a similar positive attitude towards an inspection after accident like the inspection organizations. Assuming that the majority of the 23 Percent (answer: already done in my region ) favors the inspection after accidents, too, the overall support for this type of inspection is even higher. The 65 percent would probably increase up to three fourth of yes answers. Page 5 of 20

6 2 Examples for the Inspection after Accidents Many examples for an inspection after an accident exist in European countries. These examples are listed in the following table, which consists of six columns. The first column country names the referring country. The second column Application describes who reports to whom. The third column Damage Level describes which accidents have to be reported. In the fourth column Type of Inspection the depth and extent of the inspection after an accident is described. The fifth column Fees, Time contains, if available, the price / price range and the time extent for the inspection. The sixth and last column deals, if available, with the annual performed inspections after accidents. Country Application Damage Level Belgium Germany France Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Austria Spain Insurances, police and inspection organizations have to report accidents to the registration authorities Voluntary, insurances report accidents to registration authorities Police retains registration certificates, insurances have to inform registration authorities, authorized expert decides way of repair police has to report accident to the registration authorities, inspection within 30 days Police and insurances have to report accidents to the registration authorities Police retains registration certificates and informs inspection organization Police and insurances have to inform registration authorities, these have to report to the inspection organization Police retains registration certificates Not quantified, damage to chassis, steering, suspension or brakes, total loss Repair costs are higher than 50% of vehicle MSRP Vehicles not safe for use on public roads Not quantified, police decides Not quantified, Damage, which poses a threat to road safety Not quantified, Damage, which poses a threat to road safety Severe accident with human damage, vehicle retaining for accident reconstruction Not quantified, safety relevant damages to steering suspension, brakes, chassis, transmission or seat belt ancor Type of Inspection PMVI, visual inspection, measuring of suspension and chassis Expert s inspection PMVI, visual inspection, measuring of suspension and chassis Visual inspection, check of detailed repair bill PMVI, visual inspection of repair PMVI, visual inspection of repair PMVI, visual inspection of repair, measuring protocol for suspension required PMVI, visual inspection of repair, measuring of suspension(32 angels), measuring of chassis (30 points) Fees, Time About 100 Euro, About 45 min Euro, More than 60 min About 15 Euro About 55 Euro, more than 30 min No defects free of charge, otherwise 13 Euro, about 30 min About 90 Euro, up to 120 min Annual inspections Hardly performed In 1996: 6560 Performed every once in a while, only Page 6 of 20

7 Switzerland Police informs registration authorities Not quantified, safety relevant damages to steering suspension, brakes, chassis PMVI, visual inspection of repair Rompe, TUEV R/B-B, 2001 Nine countries are listed in the table, which perform more or less an inspection after an accident. These nine are examples only and more European countries may perform inspection after accidents or changes may hay have occurred since Despite these countries being examples only, some tendencies can be recognized. The typical way of reporting an accident is by the police to the registration authorities. The damage level for reporting an accident is mostly described as all damages concerning safety relevant vehicle parts. The typical inspection is a PMVI together with a visual inspection of the repair. The fees and the required time differ a lot and no clear tendency can be recognized. The fees range from free up to 250 Euro. The required time ranges from 30 minutes up to 120 minutes. The number of annual inspections seems to be rather low. Page 7 of 20

8 3 Possible Inspection Scheme Many different options exist. Each has advantages and disadvantages. The previous mentioned possible benefits depend on the specific solution in use. These solutions mainly differ in the way of reporting and the way of inspection. The different factors of a possible inspection scheme are all listed and rated in the following subchapters. The possible factors are ordered in the following way: Way of Reporting: - Reporter - Recorder - When to Report - What to Report Way of Inspection: - Inspector - Type of Inspection The rating of these factors will be done in the following way: +++ Most Positive, High Amount ++ Second Most Positive, Second Highest Amount + Least Positive, Low Amount 0 No Influence, No Amount These ratings are not an absolute value. They are intended to compare the specific solution with each other. The rating of costs is a good example for this. The solution A might be rated with a +++ and solution B might be rated with +. This means that solution B is much cheaper than solution A. The exact costs are not known. The ratings are made for each factor being a single solution. A mixture with other factors might lead to a completely other rating. The more positive a solution is rated, especially regarding quality, the more benefits can be attributed to that one. 3.1 Way of Reporting The way of reporting is crucial to the success of the inspection after accidents. Generally, a higher percentage of reported accidents lead to more benefits. This conclusion leads to the key point of the accident reporting procedure. Who reports when and what to whom? Reporter: The reporter is the beginning of the inspection after an accident. He has to report the accident to a predefined recording organization, which will be defined later. The reporter decides, within the legal limits, when to report. He further decides, with in the legal limits too, what to report. Another important factor is quality of the reported data, which depends mainly on the reporter himself. The following possible reporters are rated regarding the factors amount, data extent, quality and costs. Page 8 of 20

9 Amount Data Extent Quality Costs The number of accidents possibly recorded. The more, the better. Amount of information, which could be recorded for each accident. The more, the better. The quality of the data recorded for each accident. This is the reliability of the data. The higher, the better. The probable costs for the specific solution. The lower, the better. Reporter Amount Data Extent Quality Costs Police Garage Insurance Inspection Organization E-Call Police The Police are the one with highest amount of possible reports. They are usually always on the scene of an accident. Severe accidents, the ones with the highest possibility of remaining defects and the highest possibility of being used for fraud, are almost fully covered by police investigations. The data extent is rather low. The report may contain the fact that an accident has happened which part of the vehicle is damaged (e.g.: front, left side). The quality of these reports is rated medium, because the general police forces are not trained in vehicle technology. A fact, which keeps up the quality level, is that the police forces are obliged to the law and always act according the law. The costs are rated medium. Garage Garages have a medium amount of possible reports. Many accidents are repaired in garages. In order to avoid the inspection after an accident, some customers might urge the garage to not report the accident. This may be caused by the fear of additional costs for repair and costs for the inspection or in exceptional cases even by criminal intentions. The quality of the recorded data is rated medium. The good vehicle technology knowledge would increase this rating, but the previous mentioned reasons lower it to a medium. Another reason is the sometimes missing type specific knowledge. The costs are medium. New ways of reporting need to be established. Insurance The insurance companies have fewer opportunities to report a high amount of accidents. Accidents, which are reported to the insurances, are the only ones covered by this method. This is a high amount, but less than by the police or by the garages. The possible data extent is a little limited by insurances often acting as an agent only. They, for example often accept the repair bill and report of a garage. For accidents with severe damage the insurances often have their vehicle experts for the assessment. This gives the quality a medium rating. The costs are rather low, due to the already well established communication system of the insurances. Page 9 of 20

10 Inspection Organization The inspection organizations can detect a medium portion of all accidents. This could be in the course of a periodical technical motor vehicle inspection or the additional offered services, like accident investigation or damage evaluations. The possible data extent and quality is very high. The inspection organizations have a good knowledge about vehicle technology and are supervised by the government. The probable costs are rated medium. This is due to the additional time needed and the new ways of communication, which have to be established. E-Call The E-Call (Emergency Call) is a new emerging vehicle technology. Yet not many vehicles are fitted with these, but new vehicles will be increasingly fitted with this technology as part of a comprehensive telematic system. The E-Call notifies rescue services like the police and an ambulance automatically in the case of an accident. The E-Call system detects an accident usually by the use of airbag system data, the restraint system data or similar. This technology limits the possible amount of detected accidents to the ones fitted with this technology and severe accidents. This technology is highly promoted and supported by EU officials. Some European manufacturers, plan to make this technology standard fitting. The data extent is very low and can report that the accident has occurred and if specific electronic in-vehicle systems are damaged. The quality of the data is rated low. The costs are rather low, because almost no labor costs emerge. Recorder: The recorder is as crucial to the success of an inspection after an accident scheme as the reporter. The recorder has the task of gathering the reported accidents. Besides the sheer gathering, the recorder further has the task to supervise the whole procedure. This means that the confirmation of a performed inspection has to be reported to the recorder, too. In the case a vehicle supposed to be inspected does not show up, the recorder needs to take legal actions. This could be in the first instance a reminder and in later ones fines or the withdrawal of the vehicle registration. The recorder will be rated regarding the ability for legal actions, quality and costs. Ability for Legal Actions Quality Costs The recorder needs to have a high and fast ability to take legal actions against the vehicle owner, who missed to show up with his vehicle. The higher, the better. This is the quality of the whole procedure for the data handling. The higher, the better. These are the costs connected to the establishment and the operation of this organization. The lower, the better. Page 10 of 20

11 Recorder Ability for Legal Quality Costs Actions Registration Authorities Inspection Organizations Police Accident Database Organization Registration Authorities The registration authorities have a very high ability to take legal actions. They have access to all the vehicle and owner data and could withdraw a registration quickly. The quality is very high, because these are governmental agencies. Fraud is almost not possible to be performed and if, no benefits would arise for them. The costs would be rather high, because a lot of administrational work is connected to inspection after accidents. Inspection Organizations The inspection organizations have limitations in their ability for legal actions. They usually don t have the necessary rights to withdraw registration or take vehicles out of the running traffic. The offender s data could be handed on to the police or registration authorities. The quality of the data handling is very high, because the inspection organizations are directly bound to the law and fraud is very unlikely. The inspection organizations would further question their independency and credibility. The costs are rather high, due to high administrational work. Police The police have a very high ability for legal actions. They can enforce the laws directly or hand the information on to the registration authorities. The quality of the data handling is very high, too. The costs are rather high, due to high administrational work. Accident Database Organization An accident database organization has very limited abilities for legal actions. They can hand the data of offenders on to the registration authorities or the police, only. The quality may be a little lower, because for an independent organization economical factors are more important than to governmental organizations. When to Report: When to report mainly affects the overall amount of reported and recorded accidents. Amount Costs The possible amount of recorded accidents for the specific solution. The more, the better. The costs, which accrue for gathered amount of data. The lower, the better. The amount and the costs are the same in this case. The more data is gathered, the more costs accrue. Page 11 of 20

12 When to Report Amount Costs All Accidents Safety Relevant Parts Key Safety Relevant + + Parts Accidents with + + Human Damage Technical Total + + Losses Police Decides Individually Retained Vehicles + + All Accidents If all accidents will be reported the highest possible amount of data will be gathered. This high amount of data leads to high costs for the handling of these. Safety Relevant Parts The safety relevant parts are the ones, which are relevant for roadworthiness in any way. The amount is a little lower compared to the report of all accidents. Not all accidents result in roadworthiness relevant damages. Examples for safety relevant parts are all, which are part of an inspection according to 96/96/EC. The costs are conclusively a little lower, too. Key Safety Relevant Parts Key safety relevant parts are parts like tires, suspension, steering, brakes or electronically controlled safety systems. These are essential for safe road traffic. The number of these accidents is rather low. Accidents with Human Damage The number of accidents with human damage is rather low, compared to the overall amount of accidents. Technical Total Losses The number of technical total losses is rather low, compared to the overall amount of accidents. Police Decides Individually The police can report accidents by different measures than just the damage severity. Other factors for the individual judgment for an inspection after an accident could be made according to the vehicle owner s character or the Accident s circumstances. This could result in a high number of accidents, which are reported. Retained Vehicles The retained vehicles are the ones kept by the police for special investigations like accident reconstruction. This is a small amount of vehicles. Page 12 of 20

13 What to Report: This is the amount of data of a reported accident. The possible amount of content will be rated according to following factors. Data Extent Costs The amount of data, which will be recorded for each reported accident. The more, the better. The costs, which accrue for gathered amount of data. The lower, the better. The data extent is equivalent to the costs. More data needs more time to be gathered and more time to be handled. What to Report Data Extent Costs Accident Occurred + + Basic Accident Data Detailed Accident Data Accident occurred This is the minimum data, which states that an accident has occurred. No data about the circumstances or the damage is recorded. The data extent and conclusively the costs are very low. Basic accident data This solution records some more data, like the major damaged vehicle parts (e.g.: front, left side, ) and the severity (e.g.: light, severe, ). This results in a medium data extent and medium costs. Detailed accident data Detailed accident data is the most comprehensive and most expensive of the three possible ones. This one includes damage data with a detailed description of all affected vehicle parts. Further, the detailed accident circumstances are recorded. 3.2 Way of Inspection In the case an inspection is ordered, the way it is handled is important to achieve highest number of benefits. The type of inspection mainly splits up into two topics. The first one is the inspector and the second one is the type of inspection. Both do mainly affect the quality of the whole inspection scheme. Inspector: The type of inspection with its extent and its quality depends on the inspector. The inspector himself contributes to the quality, too. The possible inspectors will be rated for the factors quality and costs. Quality Costs The quality of the inspection after an accident. The higher, the better. The costs for the specific solution. The lower, the better. Page 13 of 20

14 Inspector Quality Costs Police + ++ Registration + ++ Authority Independent Expert Inspection Organization Garage Insurance Police The police can perform, compared to the other possible inspectors, an inspection of low quality. They are not specifically trained in vehicle technology and could check weather the repair is done or not. The costs are rated medium. Registration Authority The registration authorities are similar to the police. They are not trained in vehicle technology. They usually don t have the appropriate inspection sites and could therefore check a repair bill or make a visual inspection. The costs are rated medium, too. Independent Expert An independent expert is rated with medium quality and medium costs. This expert is independent, because he is not employed by a governmental agency or an inspection organization. He also is financially independent. Inspection Organization Inspection organizations always perform inspections of high quality. They are directly committed to the law and have very good vehicle technology knowledge. This education and the appropriate inspection sites are expensive, which leads to high costs. Garage The garages are rated with a medium quality and medium costs. The quality is a little lower than the one of the inspection organization. Garages are usually not as supervised and organized as an official inspection organization. The costs are medium. Insurance The insurances could check the repair with their vehicle experts or by accepting the garage reports. The insurances have a medium quality and medium costs. Type of Inspection: The type of inspection is important for the quality of the inspection. Not all types can be inspected by all possible inspectors. The type of inspection will be rated regarding the Page 14 of 20

15 inspection extent, the quality and the costs. The possible inspection types are sorted by their extent beginning with the lowest one. Inspection Extent Quality Costs This is the comprehensiveness of the inspection. The more, the better. This is the quality of the inspection after an accident. The higher, the better. The costs for the specific solution. The lower, the better. The inspection extent and the inspection quality are equivalent, because the inspection extent is in this case a measure for the quality. Type of Inspection Inspection Extent Quality Costs Check of Repair Bill Visual Inspection of Repair IMVI IMVI + Visual Inspection of Repair IMVI + Visual Inspection of Repair + Check of Repair Bill IMVI + Visual Inspection of Repair + Check of Repair Bill + Measuring Chassis and Suspension Check of repair bill A check of a repair bill is the simplest way for an inspection after an accident. It further is the one with the lowest extent and therefore has the lowest quality. The positive aspect of this solution is the lowest costs and the possibility to be performed by all listed inspectors. Visual Inspection of Repair The visual inspection of the repair can range from a simple check whether the repair was performed or not to a detailed check whether the repair was performed properly or not. This leads to a medium inspection extent / quality. The costs are rather low due to the comparably low amount of time needed. IMVI The irregular motor vehicle inspection is will be performed like a periodical technical motor vehicle inspection (e.g.: according to 96/96/EC). This is not the official periodical technical motor vehicle inspection and is not intended to replace the official one. The positive aspect of this type is the roadworthiness and legal assessment of the damage. The negative aspect is that the repair does not need to be done correctly in every way. Visual accident marks may remain. The PMVI is rated Page 15 of 20

16 medium regarding the inspection extent / quality. The costs would be comparably low at the height of the country specific fee for a PMVI. IMVI + Visual Inspection of Repair The IMVI and the visual inspection of the repair supplement each other to a very comprehensive inspection after accidents. This results in a high inspection extent and high quality. The costs are rated medium, due to the high amount of time needed for both inspections. IMVI + Visual Inspection of Repair + Check of Repair Bill This solution ads to the IMVI and the visual inspection the check of the repair bill. This small change keeps the costs at a medium level. IMVI + Visual Inspection of Repair + Check of Repair Bill + Measuring Chassis and Suspension This solution is the most comprehensive one and the most expensive one. In addition to the previous mentioned methods, a full measurement of the chassis and the suspension will be performed. This increases the costs a lot. This solution seems to be only appropriate in the case of severe damages and should be ordered individually. Page 16 of 20

17 4 Recommendations In the previous chapter, all possible items of an inspection after an accident were assessed. Many mixtures of the individual solutions are possible, but some dependencies exist. For example is the police usually not equipped with a vehicle lift and therefore can not perform a comprehensive inspection after accidents. Due to these dependencies and the made ratings, a recommendation for an ideal inspection after accidents scheme can be made. An overall calculation for the rated items will not be made. Other inspection schemes than the following recommended one are possible. These are connected to higher costs or large limitations for the possible benefits. Reporter The ideal reporter would be the police. They are able to report a high number of accidents. The data extent is low. This is not a problem though. For the success of this scheme the number of reported accidents is more important than the data extent. The more accidents are reported the more benefits exist. Especially fraud can be prevented mainly by a high number of reporting. The data extent can be low, because the vehicle will be checked completely anyway and a vehicle expert often recognizes the repaired vehicle part by little details. The quality is at a medium level high enough and the costs are at a medium level not too high. Reporter Amount Data Extent Quality Costs Police Recorder The registration authorities are the ideal recorder, because of the high ability for legal actions. This ability is most essential for the success of this additional inspection. The quality was rated high. The registration authority is the central point of the inspection after accidents. All accident reports and repair reports are administered by this authority. A high qualitative handling of these documents is very important. This high ability and this high quality at medium costs are ideal. Recorder Registration Authorities Ability for Legal Quality Costs Actions When to Report Ideally, all accidents should be reported. This causes high costs, but is crucial to the success. Prevention of fraud, consumer protection and other benefits can only be reached, if all accidents are reported. When to Report Amount Costs All Accidents Page 17 of 20

18 What to report The simple notification that an accident has occurred is enough. The later inspection will be performed by vehicle experts, who don t need this information and rather rely on their knowledge to detect not proper repaired spots. A benefit of this method is that it keeps the costs low. What to Report Data Extent Costs Accident Occurred + + Inspector The inspection should ideally be performed by inspection organizations. They offer a high quality, which is essential to reach the possible benefits attributed to an inspection after an accident. The vehicle experts or authorized vehicle inspectors of the inspection organizations have the knowledge to decide individually how to perform the inspection. This could for example reduce the inspection fees for slight damages. The inspection organizations further have the appropriate equipment, like vehicle lifts, roller brake testers and other measurement tools, to perform an inspection of high quality. Inspector Quality Costs Inspection Organization Type of Inspection The inspection should ideally be performed like periodic technical motor vehicle inspection. Defined criteria exist (e.g.: 96/96/EC) which make the handling of the inspection a lot easier. These criteria are known by the inspectors as well as by the customers. The extent and the quality are just enough to detect possible remained defects. This at relatively low costs is an ideal solution. Type of Inspection Inspection Extent Quality Costs IMVI Page 18 of 20

19 5 Comments to the BAST - Research Report Inspection of vehicles after severe accidents by Prof. Dr. Klaus Rompe (January 2002) Another decisive factor for carrying out the BASt (Ministry for Transport, Building and Housing) study was beside statements and demands of TÜV/DEKRA and motor vehicle trade media presentations in The programme reported on two cases of accidents and severe injuries caused by unproper repairs. The University of Cologne was supposed to scientifically evaluate potential risks, which before that only were estimated by approximation by TÜV/DEKRA. On the basis of a merely Germanbased bibliography and the opinion of German experts, the report comes to the following conclusion: 1. Experiences from Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Spain in regard to inspection fail rates demonstrate the potential risk for vehicles with severe accidents and repairs not done by professionals. 2. On the basis of the data available in Germany the amount of repairs not done by professionals, or rather, the accidents caused by technical failures due to unproper repairs of vehicles with severe accidents, can not be assessed. 3. A quantitative evaluation by TÜV Rhineland/Berlin-Brandenburg updated version from ) presents only a first approach to the problem of potential risks. A continuation of the (6 months lasting) research project is promising in regard to the following points: 1. The amount of vehicles with severe accidents is obvious from the AUDATEX data bank. 2. The amount of vehicles with severe accidents and consequential damages can be assessed ex post for a period of 1,5 years from the AUDATEX data. 3. Acquisition of detailed accident data by the University Hanover and Dresden on behalf of the BASt (Ministry for Transport, Building and Housing) can provide the data necessary for the future if a respective adaptation of the assignment is carried out. 4. DEKRA accidents reports at about per annum should be analysed in regard to the consequences of unproper repairs. 5. Experiences from present procedures in Germany should be taken into account. Here the police informs the admission office in the course of the accident evaluation process after the expiry of a certain notification period about vehicles with severe accidents. In a summary, the research project confirms well-known facts, mainly, that there is no sufficient data in Germany for calculating the risks arising from unproper repairs. This also refers to the causes of accidents due to technical failures in general, because Page 19 of 20

20 official statistics are based on visual examinations of the place of accident conducted by the police, that for the most part is not able to recognise similar deficiencies. The research report makes another step and points toward promising solutions on how to provide the data necessary. Nevertheless, the Federal Government gives no response to this. But the high numbers of inspection fail rates of between 20 to 50% in the EU Member States, by which repairs of vehicles with severe accidents are tested (additional findings are available from Belgium: 16,000 inspections at about 33% were subject to re-inspections), demonstrate the fact that there is a high risk. Consequently, also in Germany the specific amount of proper repairs of vehicles with severe accidents should be assessed parting from representative spot tests, e. g. by making use of the AUDATEX data bank. If there are found proportions ranging between 20-50% in our country, the necessity for and the use of additional inspections is out of question. In the frame of a similar examination another point of assessment should be, whether the payment of the insurance was made on the basis of an expert opinion, that is, notional (by now at about 30-40% of the insurance cases), because here a considerable amount of unproper repairs are expected. Finally, the experiences made in other EU Member States, that have already implemented an additional inspection following repairs after accidents, should be taken into account. Available data shows already e. g. that in these countries and in Germany annually between 10 to 12% of the vehicles approved are involved in accidents, and between 10 to 15% of them in severe accidents. The better part of these vehicles is scrapped or exported, mainly to Eastern Europe. Actually only 0,06-0,1% of the vehicles approved would be subject to additional inspections per annum. In Germany this would affect less than 500,000 passenger cars. The growing amount of repairs conducted in non EU Member States, which can not be controlled (in Germany in the last decade on an average 17% of the repairs following accidents were not made in work shops), the growing amount of electronically controlled systems necessary for security, but which are not essential for the mere operability of the vehicle and due to that are not always repaired ( e. g. 4 or more airbags esp. in older vehicles), and the growing complexity of vehicles makes an additional inspection after repairs in vehicles with severe accidents more necessary than ever. Such an inspection does not only serve to reduce accidents and their consequences but also minimises the amount of untraceable stolen personal cars (by now annually 30,000, insured loss at about 500 Mio EUR annually). In addition to that, this impedes clandestine employment and by that creates new jobs in the handcraft sector. At the end the purchaser of personal cars with accidents are protected from repairs which were not done by professionals. Page 20 of 20