The warning comes from Autoglass as it announces the UK-wide roll-out of its new solution to calibrate Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, which support vehicle safety systems such as autonomous emergency braking and lane deviation warnings.

Autoglass estimates that by the year 2020, more than 15.3 million vehicles – 40% of the entire UK car parc will carry systems that require calibration following a windscreen replacement.

It adds that if the sensors and cameras that the systems use are misaligned by as little as one degree, the consequences can be devastating, particularly at higher speeds, as they will fail to detect and analyse driving conditions correctly in order to warn drivers about potential hazards or take corrective actions such as autonomous emergency braking.

Yet research from Autoglass has found that over two-thirds of drivers (68%) decided to go against their vehicle manufacturer’s advice to calibrate following a windscreen replacement – many because they perceived everything was working correctly, something which cannot be determined without the necessary technical equipment.

The national roll-out of the calibration solution from Autoglass follows a successful regional pilot, extensive investment in research, development, and technician training, resulting in Autoglass being able to calibrate what it believes is an unrivalled 96% of all vehicles on the road.

Neil Atherton, sales and marketing director of Autoglass, said: “The automotive after-market needs to evolve to keep pace with the speed of innovation that is happening to help bring down the number of injuries and deaths on UK roads. Even a minor margin of error can have serious consequences on the success or failure of the latest safety features. “We are proud to play our part by working closely with our industry partners, rolling out our new calibration solution nationwide, and by being instrumental in efforts to create an industry code of practice, due for publication later this year.”