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All Locations Currently Open – COVID-19 Update 3/23/20 5:00pm

Dear Valued Today’s Collision Customers:

Please be advised, at this time, Today’s Collision Repair Centers remain open.  Certain businesses are exempt from the recent measures by Governor Baker to close all non-essential businesses in the state of Massachusetts to slow the spread of COVID-19, including auto repair, as documented at: https://www.mass.gov/doc/covid-19-essential-services

At this time, we’ve made the important decision to maintain operations during the COVID-19 crisis as we continue to help restore transportation to customers in critical industries including first responders and healthcare.

Since the circumstances surrounding this pandemic change by the hour, we will continuously monitor our business needs in the community.

If you have specific questions regarding your vehicle repairs, please contact our customer service teams at each of our locations:

375 Washington St. |   Malden, MA 02148     |   781-321-6080

99 Everett Ave. |   Chelsea, MA 02150    |   617-887-0080

16 Gould St.   |   Stoneham, MA 02180    |   781-279-2220

We understand the need to take additional precautions to keep your vehicle, and our facilities, safe and clean for you and our employees. As a reminder, the following steps have been implemented at our facilities to enhance our processes:

  • At the time of drop-off, you will be asked to drop your keys in a plastic bag.  Fobs will remain in the bag at all times.
  • All vehicle steering wheels will be covered with a plastic steering wheel protector when you drop-off your vehicle.
  • All driver’s side seats will also be protected with a plastic seat cover at the time of drop-off.
  • All gear shifters / selectors will be protected with a plastic cover.
  • After all repairs are complete, your vehicle will be detailed, inside and out.  During this process, we will remove the plastic coverings, clean under those coverings, and then replace the protectors.
  • When you return to pick up your vehicle, we will then remove the plastic protectors prior to your entering the vehicle.
  • Additionally, all of our customer service areas and offices are being given an added level of cleaning daily.
  • We are reinforcing the utilization of disinfecting wipes, sanitizer, proper hand washing and social distancing throughout our facilities.

Our amazing customer service team is here to help!  Please let them know if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Bobby Cobb and Kevin Kyes

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PROTECTING OUR CUSTOMERS & EMPLOYEES – Coronavirus (COVID-19) Statement

Dear Valued Today’s Collision Customers:

As the situation regarding the Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to evolve, we understand the need to take additional precautions to keep your vehicle, and our facilities, safe and clean for you and our employees.

Protective covers for steering wheels, seats and gear shifters / selectors

While we have always taken pride in the cleanliness of our repair centers, we have taken the following steps to enhance our processes:

  • At the time of drop-off, you will be asked to drop your keys in a plastic bag. Fobs will remain in the bag at all times.
  • All vehicle steering wheels will be covered with a plastic steering wheel protector when you drop-off your vehicle.
  • All driver’s side seats will also be protected with a plastic seat cover at the time of drop-off.
  • All gear shifters / selectors will be protected with a plastic cover.
  • After all repairs are complete, your vehicle will be detailed, inside and out. During this process, we will remove the plastic coverings, clean under those coverings, and then replace the protectors.
  • When you return to pick up your vehicle, we will then remove the plastic protectors prior to your entering the vehicle.
  • Additionally, all of our customer service areas and offices are being given an added level of cleaning daily.
  • We are reinforcing the utilization of disinfecting wipes, sanitizer, proper hand washing and social distancing throughout our facilities.

Please let us know if you see any aspect of our process that can be improved.  As always, please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns, and please visit our website for the most up-to-date information.

On a personal note, many of you have known us for over thirty years, referring your family and friends to us, and supporting our business.  At this time of uncertainty, we wish you all good health and we look forward to the (hopefully not-so-distant) future when we can talk about Boston sports, concerts and all your family stories again!

Sincerely,

Bobby Cobb and Kevin Kyes

Owners, Today’s Collision Repair Centers

 

How do Seat Belts Keep us Safe in a Collision?

Research from the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that seat belts save about 13,000 lives in the United States annually. The NHTSA also reports that over 2,500 lives of crash victims could have been saved if they had been wearing seat belts.

Why are seat belted passengers considered to be safer than unrestrained ones? According to the NHTSA, “During a vehicle crash, being buckled up helps keep you safe and secure inside your vehicle, whereas being completely thrown out of a vehicle is almost always deadly.”

A Brief History of Seat Belts

In the United States, the first seat belt patent was issued in 1885 to Edward Claghorn of New York City. The first modern seat belt, called a three-point seat belt, was invented in Sweden and introduced to the automobile by Volvo in 1959.
Seat belts were required in every automobile by 1968, but wearing them is still not mandatory in every state.

How Seat Belts Work

The basic idea of a seat belt is simple. Wearing a belt keeps passengers from being ejected from a vehicle in a crash. When a vehicle stops abruptly, its passengers will also stop. The life saving difference is where on the body a force is applied to stop the person, and how suddenly it is applied. For example, stopping by hitting your head on the windshield is much more likely to cause injury than stopping because a seat belt forces the center of your body to stay in a cushioned seat.

As seat belts have developed over time, there are several different kinds.

● A 2-point seat belt, also called a lap belt, has only two attachment points, one near each hip.
● A 3-point seat belt, also called a lap/shoulder belt, includes a lap belt and a shoulder belt and has three attachment points, one near each hip and one over a shoulder.

Today’s seat belts are three-point seat belts, which spread the stopping force across the pelvis and upper body. Because three point belts spread the force across more of the body than two point belts, they minimize the strength of the force in one area, minimizing injury.

Remember that seat belts are designed for adult sized bodies, which is why child safety seats are so important in the case of an accident. Child car seats allow the force of an accident to be spread across an area appropriate to keep a child safe.

The Evolution of Automobile Safety

On September 13, 1899, Henry H. Bliss became the first person to die in an automobile accident in the western hemisphere. Although he wasn’t in the vehicle at the time, his death set into motion a series of improvements to automobile safety that still continue to evolve today. These are some of the safety features that have developed over the last 118 years.

Speedometers became available in 1901 in the Oldsmobile. Today, they are standard in every vehicle.

Safety Glass Windows help to prevent injuries by broken glass in the case of a collision. They were introduced by Cadillac in 1924.

Turn Signals like those we use today were introduced by Buick in 1940. They signaled in the front and back of the car and turned off automatically after a turn.

Dashboard Padding was introduced in 1947, but wasn’t widely used until the mid 1950s.

Seat Belts were introduced in 1950, and by 1956 they were offered as an optional safety piece by several manufacturers. New York was the first state to require seat belts in the front seat in 1962, and by 1964, they were required across the United States. Seat belts still are not required in every state, although every state except New Hampshire has required them since 1995.

Headrests were required for front passengers in 1969 to protect people’s necks in the case of a rear-end collision.

Safety Door Latches that prevent doors from opening during a collision were added in 1955.

Drivers Education didn’t exist until 1955 either, when Michigan became the first state to require a course of driver’s ed before anyone under 18 could have a license.

Safety Standard Enforcement didn’t start until 1967 when the first Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards were introduced. They regulated protruding knobs in the passenger area, hazard lights, brakes, and additional padding and impact absorption.

Airbags weren’t used until 1974, when GM introduced the first one, and weren’t a standard across the industry until 1998!

The first side impact airbags were used in 1994.

Child Safety Laws didn’t exist until 1978, when Tennessee introduced the first one in the world. Since 1985, every state in the U.S.A. has had laws regarding child safety seats.

Modern Safety Features include things like electronic stability control, adaptive headlights, emergency brake assist, blind zone warnings, and lane departure warnings. While none of these are standard in the United States today, many of them are standard or basic options from many vehicle manufacturers.