Do you ever think about what the year 2020 might look like? I personally can’t imagine it, as it seems incredible to me how quickly technology is advancing—from cell phones and GPS units to smartphones to iPads and more. I often wonder what will they come up with next—as it often seems there’s little that can’t be done today.
Well, vehicles and the windshields they utilize are no different, and United Kingdom-based Autoglass® has released a vision of what it expects windshields to look like in 2020. It expects by then, heads-up displays will be the norm, and we’ll all be seeing speed, fuel and other information displayed on our windshields. The company even suspects online maps will be projected there in less than 10 years, along with today’s special at the local pub, where the closest gas stations are, and even warnings about approaching pedestrians.
“Essentially the car is becoming more like a laptop and the windscreen will evolve into the virtual information screen,” says Chris Davies, head of technical research and innovation at Autoglass.
Two words lie behind the concept: “augmented reality.”
“Augmented reality technology has been widely used in smartphones for more than 18 months,” adds Davies. “Manufacturers are already working on assistance technologies such as collision avoidance systems, lane departure systems and sign recognition. We believe that within 10 years car manufacturers will have completely revolutionized the function of the car windscreen.”
And what about the displays we’re all used to seeing just beyond our steering wheel?
“The traditional dashboard will become obsolete,” predicts Davies.
Be sure to watch the video below, created by Autoglass, which shows what a drive through London might look like in 2020. (Beware, there is some glass breakage at the end—as ultimately the video was created for consumers; but I still thought it interesting to share with you here.)
I am not sure how I feel about this technology, but it seems to be on its way—and I know there are vehicles out there today using a smaller version of the heads-up display. I’m curious, though, how often are you seeing heads-up displays in use? Do you think Davies’ predictions are correct? Please e-mail me at pstacey@glass.com.
Over the past few months, we’ve been covering a number of interesting bills related to the auto glass industry. Legislation certainly is nothing new for the industry, and in the past mostly we’ve seen lots of anti-steering bills—you know, those related to what insurers and third-party administrators (TPAs) are allowed to say (or not say) when working with a consumer on an auto glass claim. But, today, more and more often new legislation is addressing items such as the “inspection” programs that some insurers now are enstating (in which they sometimes require an inspection prior to authorizing auto glass work), and TPA ownership of auto glass businesses.
The most recent of these to pass and be enacted into law was in Arizona, but, no doubt, the bill that was introduced early this year was quite different from what was signed in April. The final wording of the bill ended up actually permitting third-party administrators to recommend or provide information about auto glass repair facilities—as long as they inform the consumer of their right to choose at the same time.
The new Arizona law, which should take effect in July, also prohibits an inspector from making any such recommendation.
The original bill actually would have prohibited insurers and TPAs from delaying a consumer’s auto glass claim because of an inspection—but ultimately this provision was removed, along with a provision that would have also prohibited insurers and TPAs from having financial interests in auto glass companies.
If you’ve read today’s lead story on glassBYTEs.com™, you’ll see the same thing happening in Texas. A similar bill that again would have prohibited such financial relationships between insurers/TPAs and auto glass businesses has been adapted—quite early in the process—to now specify that TPAs can have a financial interest in an auto glass business, but, if this interest equals 10 percent or more, they are prohibited from recommending the business’s services to consumers.
However, the new version of the bill also adds a provision I don’t recall seeing before; it prohibits TPAs from using consumer information obtained in the process of acting as a TPA to solicit business for the auto glass company. I am wondering if we’ll start seeing this more and more, in today’s market, in which often we’re seeing TPAs e-mailing claim information, surveys and more, directly to consumers after processing auto glass claims for them.
What are your thoughts on all this legislation? Which provisions do you think are most important to your business—if any of these? Please e-mail your thoughts to pstacey@glass.com, and, as always, please stay tuned to glassBYTEs.com for the latest on these bills and more.
One of the handiest items in my kitchen is my Kitchenaid Turbo Mixer. I’ve dreamt about this handy appliance for as long as I can remember. In fact, I’ll never forget when I first saw the movie “The Exorcist” in high school. While everyone else was a little frightened and was oohing and ahhing about the scary plot, I remember a scene that shows the main character’s family kitchen and screaming, “Look, a Turbo Mixer!” Thankfully, my mom and sister were kind enough to purchase a Turbo Mixer for my husband and me as a wedding present several years ago, and to this day I’m still amazed by it. There’s nothing like being able to dump all the ingredients into it for a cake, walk away for three minutes, and return to batter ready to go into the oven. It’s been as revolutionary as I always thought it would be. And, it’s stood the test of time—we just celebrated our seventh anniversary and my mixer still works as well as it did the day I received it.
Now I know much of our readership probably could care less about this kitchen appliance, but, I’m wondering, what is your Turbo Mixer? What tool has made your business easier over the years? What item could you not live without?
We’re currently working on compiling our Second Annual AGRR™ Guide to New Products and Services and I’d love to include your thoughts there. While there are a great number of new, exciting tools that I look forward to featuring, I also want to know—what classic tools have revolutionized the auto glass business for you? What tool has made you ask, “wow, how did I do that before I had this?”
Please e-mail your thoughts to me at pstacey@glass.com, or give me a call at 540/720-5584, ext. 148.
I look forward to hearing from you.
The auto glass industry has always had its share of intricacies and issues. We’ve all spoke to an “outsider” who’s been amazed by the entire process. In fact, in 2009, AGRR actually sent an outside consultant into the industry to see what he found.
But over the last couple of years we’ve seen the rise of a new trend—auto glass “inspections.” Though little is known about some of these programs, USAA Insurance has been very open about the process and has advised glassBYTEs.com™/AGRR magazine that Safelite technicians conduct the “inspections” to ensure that damage has actually occurred. When I spoke with company spokesperson Rebecca Hirsch in early January, the company was utilizing inspections in five states and Hirsch said there’d been some instances when these had kept a non-damaged windshield from being repaired or replaced—and had kept fraud from happening.
Some industry sources, however, have said that even if the inspections are intended to prevent fraud—they can encourage another bad practice: steering. One industry representative recently told me that he had a customer of whom an “inspection” was required and that she ended up using the inspector’s company (Safelite) for the job, just due to time sensitivity.
I’ve also heard from readers who’ve suggested that the party who calls the insurance company is the deciding factor in whether an inspection is required; if you call for your customer, some say, a fraud indicator of sorts goes up at the third-party administrator (TPA) and an inspection might be required. These same sources say if the customer calls the TPA directly, it’s less likely an inspection will be required—as the TPA then trusts that damage has occurred.
What do you think? Have you seen an inspection occur? Or do these usually happen before the work gets to you? And, have you had an inspection in which the work still made it your way? And, have you ever endured an inspection in which the “inspector” decided no work should be done at all?
I’d really like to hear your outlook on this, and would like to include your thoughts in an upcoming story on the topic. Please e-mail me at pstacey@glass.com or call me at 540/720-5584, ext. 148. I look forward to hearing from you.
If you ever were a Johnny Carson fan (or, in my case, a Dana-Carvey-impersonating-Johnny-Carson- on-“Saturday Night Live” fan), the phrase “That is some weird, wild stuff” probably is familiar to you (and hopefully makes you chuckle as it still does me).
Well, when I saw a recent press release from Autoglass® detailing some of the strangest ways customers have had their windshields broken, this phrase immediately came right to mind. Autoglass, which is a division of Belron and is based in the United Kingdom, points out that while rocks being thrown at cars (or chips from the road) still is the most common cause of glass breakage among its customers, they’ve heard a range of other causes.
The following list of crazy causes of glass breakage heard from customers was released by Autoglass just this week:
- A driver who repeatedly annoyed a farmer by parking in front of a gate to his field, one day returned to find his car had been dragged into the field and his windshield and roof smashed by an axe;
- A squirrel fell out of a tree and landed on the windshield;
- A lady’s high heel chipped the inside of a windshield;
- Something fell from a plane;
- The skeet from a clay pigeon shoot hit the glass;
- A deer left hoof shaped cracks on a windscreen as it jumped out of the way of an oncoming car;
- An angry mother-in-law broke the glass with a baseball bat;
- A stack of shelves went through the windshield when the driver hit the brakes;
- The big, bristly brush from a carwash turned a chip on the windshield into a crack; and
- And they saved one of the best, in my opinion, for last: a customer called to arrange a chip repair and during the call, realized her son had stuck a piece of candy to the inside of the windshield, and the glass wasn’t broken at all.
In my opinion, this list really did contain some weird, wild stuff. I’d love to know what the lady’s high heel was doing on the windshield (or perhaps I don’t want to know), and why you’d intentionally annoy a farmer by parking in front of the gate to his field. (In that case, I’m not sure the driver didn’t get what he deserved!)
So, what weird, wild stories have you heard from your customers? A couple years ago I asked for similar stories and received reports of a couple who utilized the top of a soda can to scrape the ice from their windshield (that story was courtesy of Johanna Lutton of Metro Glass in Omaha, Neb.), and Rich Reeley, owner of a NOVUS franchise in Arkansas advised me one of his customers had used a hammer to attempt to remove ice from his windshield.
I’m sure these aren’t the only crazy stories out there. I’d love to hear yours, too. Please e-mail me at pstacey@glass.com.
