Stay safe on the road

I was lucky enough to win a Special Recognition Award at the Servicesure Annual Awards recently – I was dead chuffed and it’s also given me a platform to talk about some vital industry issues.

Case in point: it’s Road Safety Week, bringing together schools, organisations and communities to share important road safety messages and keep people safe. And IMI members’ skills are central to making vehicles as safe as possible.

But to make that happen we all need to stay on top of the latest technological developments.

Take Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). These are integral to modern vehicles, and include everything from lane keep assist to autonomous emergency braking systems.

These are increasingly important because most incidents are caused by human error, and ADAS technology helps mitigate those mistakes.

But there’s a gap being created that we need to fill.

ADAS systems need maintenance by a skilled workforce using connectivity, correct tooling, and data access. An automotive professional who’s unaware of these systems may give incorrect information to their customer. The customer assumes that they were relying on the professional to advise them correctly – and weren’t – and road safety is compromised.

It’s why IMI TechsafeTM and the Professional Register exist, giving you the ability to demonstrate instantly that you’re fully qualified to be working on vehicles with ADAS technologies. It’s also a badge of honour that’s likely to enhance your employability.

I’ll continue to push awareness of road safety issues, among others, in my role as Policy Manager for the IMI. You can be part of my regular Policy Clinics, run at the IMI’s Fanshaws office. Here’s my email if you want to talk.

And if you have questions on any other topic, call +44 (0)1992 519025, or send an email to hello@theimi.org.uk and we’ll try and help.
   
With my very best wishes
 
Hayley