Motorists driving vehicles repaired after being involved in car accidents can now rest assured that if the repairs have been carried out by Kitemark approved specialists, should they be involved in another road accident their vehicle should not have been weakened.

The car accident repair Kitemark scheme should reassure motorists that their vehicle has been repaired to the highest and safest standards if it has been carried out by one of over 300 repair centres who have been awarded the prestigious Kitemark award since its launch in 2007.

Over 400,000 road accident vehicles are currently being repaired by these recognised repair centres every year, and this will increase with another 600 centres currently attempting to become certified.

The BSI Kitemark and Thatcham initiative would see Euro NCAP safety ratings unaffected on car accident repairs carried out by certified centres, whilst poorly repaired vehicles could see their safety rating null and void.

Tests results interpreted by experts showed poorly repaired vehicles are more likely to fail in key areas if the vehicle is involved in another road accident, with tests showing a 70% greater intrusion into the passenger area of the vehicle.

MIRA the engineering specialists who carried out the tests are fully aware how new cars perform in an accident situation, but were keen to understand how badly repaired car crash vehicles would perform.

MIRA's Chief Executive said: “We were keen to conduct with these ground breaking Thatcham crash tests, which shows just how vital it is that accident damaged vehicles are repaired by skilled technicians using the correct methods and materials."