VMS Auto Collision Center Puts Spotlight on Hidden Risks After Bumper Impacts

The Risks Behind a Damaged Bumper: Insights From a Covina Auto Body Shop

Covina, United States – July 3, 2026 / VMS Auto Collision Center /

COVINA, Calif., July 3, 2026 – VMS Auto Collision Center, a family-owned auto body shop serving the San Gabriel Valley since 1989, has launched a public awareness campaign addressing a safety gap affecting a large share of drivers in the region: bumper damage that goes unrepaired because it appears minor from the outside.

The campaign draws on over 35 years of firsthand repair experience to document the structural and electronic risks of driving with a damaged bumper. It is aimed at drivers who may not be aware that a bumper cover returning to its original shape after a low-speed impact does not indicate that the components behind it are undamaged.

$Graphic from VMS Auto Collision Center explaining how minor bumper scratches can conceal fractured internal brackets.$

The Safety Gap the Campaign Addresses

A common scenario plays out regularly across San Gabriel Valley roads: a driver experiences a low-speed impact, the vehicle continues to operate normally, and the bumper damage gets deferred. What that assessment misses is that the outer cover of many modern bumpers is made from TPO, thermoplastic olefin, a material specifically engineered to flex and return after minor contact. The structural components behind it, the reinforcement bar, energy absorber, and mounting brackets, do not share that flexibility. Identifying what those components have actually absorbed is where professional auto body repair services become relevant.

A 2017 study cited by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that vehicles equipped with both forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking reduced rear-end crash involvement rates by 50 percent. Those results depend on the sensors powering those systems being correctly positioned. A bumper impact that shifts a radar module or rotates a camera on its bracket can degrade or disable those systems without triggering any dashboard alert.

The campaign also highlights a legal dimension many California drivers are not aware of. California Vehicle Code Section 28071 requires every registered passenger vehicle in the state to be equipped with both a front and a rear bumper. Vehicles found operating without a functional bumper are subject to citation, and insurers may dispute coverage on components with documented pre-existing damage that was never repaired.

Bumper Damage and the Safety Risks That Develop After Impact

A Growing Concern as ADAS Becomes Standard

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, known as ADAS, are now standard on most new vehicles. As more drivers rely on automatic emergency braking, blind spot monitoring, and lane departure warning for daily safety, the consequences of a miscalibrated sensor after a bumper impact become more serious. Addressing that concern directly is what prompted the development of this campaign resource.

Experience That Informed the Campaign

Kevin Kebabjian, owner of VMS Auto Collision Center, draws the campaign’s content directly from auto body repair experience accumulated over more than two decades.

“The vehicles we see most often are not the ones brought in right after an impact,” said Kebabjian. “They come in weeks later, when a warning light will not clear or a safety feature stops working, and the starting point is almost always a bumper hit the driver thought was cosmetic. The cover looked fine. Everything behind it was not.”

It is a pattern that becomes clear over time, and one that the auto body shop in Covina has documented through more than 35 years of daily repair work.

Infographic listing hidden vehicle damage, featuring a technician working on a white car's front bumper assembly.

About VMS Auto Collision Center

Founded in 1989, VMS Auto Collision Center has provided collision repair, bumper restoration, paint and refinishing, and lease return reconditioning to drivers in Covina and the surrounding San Gabriel Valley communities, including West Covina, Glendora, Azusa, Baldwin Park, San Dimas, Irwindale, Walnut, La Puente, Pomona, and El Monte. It holds I-CAR Gold Class certification, an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, and membership in the Mazda Collision Network. Every repair is backed by a Limited Lifetime Warranty on workmanship. The shop also manages insurance claims coordination and rental car arrangements on behalf of customers throughout the repair process.