Are Repairs in a Windshield-Mounted Camera’s View Safe?
By Abby Bowman
As the number of vehicles with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) continues to increase, more and more repair technicians are faced with doing repairs in the camera’s sweep on the windshield.
But what happens when a windshield with a mounted camera gets a rock chip instead of a large crack? If the damage is in the camera’s area, can it be repaired?
“Someone technically could. We don’t,” says Larry Seymour. He runs Seminole Auto Glass in Tallahassee, Florida, alongside his wife, Auto Glass Week™ 2024 Auto Glass Calibration Competition winner Sarah Seymour.
The reason is simple, the couple explains: the camera has to see.
Seeing is Safety
According to Richard Zenteno, a windshield-mounted camera needs a clear line of sight for ADAS technology to properly perform its safety functions. Zenteno is Autel North America’s national sales manager for ADAS.
“One of the things that the cameras do well, aside from object detection, is object classification,” he says. “Through software, the camera can detect if it is looking at a pedestrian, cyclist or another vehicle. The main issue here is, is there going to be any deformity when the camera is seeing through that chip repair location.”
Shiloh Spoo, the president of Bend, Oregon-based GlasWeld, says repair technology has improved dramatically over the past several years, and repair resins cure clearer than ever. But a technician shouldn’t repair in front of the camera no matter how good their work may be.
“A company or technician working on a windshield would never want to be responsible for [a car’s ADAS capabilities] not working properly,” he says. “So our feeling at GlasWeld is that it is probably better to avoid repairing [a chip that’s] directly in a camera view.”
Meghan Martin is the CEO of SuperGlass Windshield Repair, which has its headquarters in Orlando, Florida. Because her company is repair-first, Martin’s instinct is to find a way to repair the windshield and save the factory seal whenever possible. But there’s some damage that shouldn’t be repaired, she says.
“Depending on the type of damage and the resin that you’re using, you might get different results,” she says. “If you’re looking at damage that has a twist in it, or a wider leg, those definitely have a better chance of being visible after repair.”
Because the windshield-mounted cameras are so sensitive, Martin says, she wouldn’t want to risk disrupting their vision by repairing that kind of damage in its line of sight.
The Seymours say that despite a technician’s best efforts, repairs sometimes develop flaws later that can disrupt a camera’s vision.
“If the repair doesn’t take, then you have air trapped in the break, and any glare [off that air pocket] could affect the camera,” Larry says.
“It could look perfect when the customer drives away,” Sarah adds. “But it could still become visible later, and then that would impact the camera’s view.”
Zenteno recommends not repairing in front of the camera because of that potential distortion. When a camera detects and classifies an object, Zenteno says the associated software gives a “percentage of certainty” for its classification.
“The distortion [from a repair] can affect the classification of an object, and it also may prevent the camera from calibrating properly,” he says.
How Close is Too Close?
The camera’s location and scope is specific to a vehicle’s make and model, Zenteno says.
“We’re seeing that the windshield cutouts for the cameras are being widened,” he says. “The reason for that is pedestrian detection. So you want to avoid that specific cutout area in front of the camera lens.”
Spoo says that most vehicles have relatively well-defined camera viewing areas. He says repairs on those vehicles should be safe as long as no part of them extends into the viewing area.
Martin’s first preference is always to save the windshield, but when erring on the side of caution, she would not repair in the camera’s direct view.
“Thinking about how sensitive the ADAS systems can be, if there’s a star right in front of the camera and I have any doubt, I’m going to shy away from repairing that,” she says. “The customer’s safety is priority number one.”
The Seymours are cautious. They avoid repairs within 5 to 6 inches of the camera cutout.
More to Consider
They say that if the windshield is impacted around the camera, it creates enough damage that the windshield needs replacement anyway. Even without a windshield-mounted camera on the vehicle, the couple says they would gravitate toward a replacement for damage in that area.
“We don’t do repairs in the black zone because you can’t see the back side of it,” Larry says. “Anything that’s in the black is an automatic replacement.”
Zenteno says avoiding the camera’s line of sight is similar to the Repair of Laminated Auto Glass Standard (ROLAGS) stipulation to not repair in the driver’s direct view. The ANSI/Auto Glass Safety Council (AGSC)/National Windshield Repair Division (NWRD) ROLAGS is the industry standard for the repair of laminated auto glass.
This shouldn’t discourage technicians from repairing in general, according to Spoo. The camera’s viewing area is small compared to the rest of the windshield.
“There’s plenty of repair work in the world that is not directly in the camera viewing area,” says Spoo.
He adds that even though you can’t repair in a camera’s line of sight, it’s still a good business opportunity to repair other areas of the windshield on an ADAS-equipped car.
“The ability to repair and keep that original piece of glass in the vehicle without having to replace it or perform a recalibration has a high value to the customer,” Spoo says. “For shops that are repair first, repair only or are just repair-focused, there’s a great opportunity with windshields on ADAS-enabled vehicles to highlight to the customer what a repair can help them to save.”
Explaining ADAS systems and camera recalibration to customers helps them understand the time and money saved by repairing instead, he says.
ROLAGS™ Sets the Standard
The Repair of Laminated Automotive Glass Standard (ROLAGS) is a standard created under the auspices of ANSI. Its secretariat is the National Windshield Repair Division (NWRD) of the Auto Glass Safety Council (AGSC). The current version of the ROLAGS Standard doesn’t include any regulations about repairing the camera sweep area, but that is about to change.
“Repair technicians are constantly asking what they can and cannot repair when there is ADAS and a windshield-mounted camera involved,” says Linda Rollinson, chair of the ROLAGS committee. “So that’s something that needs to be addressed.”
According to Rollinson, the committee has been reviewing the subject for years to add the most precise and helpful information possible to the Standard.
“We’ve been compiling data from everybody possible, including manufacturers, to see what they have to say,” she says.
Rollinson says this information will all be laid out in ROLAGS 2, but according to AGSC president Jacques Navant, the gist is simple.
“Any area where the camera sees and is active will be a no-go zone for repairs,” he says.
He says diagrams detailing the off-limits areas on various cars’ windshields will accompany the new version of the standard. He and Rollinson hope the images will give technicians a helpful visual aid.
“The technology is constantly evolving, and repair technicians need to have some kind of guidance on … what is and what is not repairable, and the best practices to repair it,” Rollinson says.
Abby Bowman is the editor of AGRR magazine. Email her at abowman@glass.com and connect with her on LinkedIn.
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