Auto Glass Safety Council Advances ADAS Calibration Guidance as Industry Standard-Setting Continues

The Auto Glass Safety Council's work in 2023 represented one of the most sustained industry-level advocacy and standard-setting efforts in the organization's history. Following its support for calibration disclosure legislation in multiple states — including the successful Maryland HB 920 and the unsuccessful New Hampshire HB 304 — the AGSC continued to build out the technical foundation for calibration best practices.

The AGSC's position, reflected in its public statements and legislative testimony throughout 2023, was that ADAS recalibration after windshield replacement is a safety requirement, not a luxury service. This argument rested on the body of research — including the IIHS February 2023 survey showing post-repair ADAS failures in half of cases where calibration work had been performed — establishing that improperly calibrated cameras create real-world safety risks.

The council's legislative advocacy in 2023 also reflected a practical problem: because calibration is an invisible service (the customer cannot see whether a camera is correctly aligned), the incentive for some shops to skip or shortcut the procedure is significant, particularly when calibration equipment is expensive and calibration adds time to a job. Disclosure requirements and best-practice standards are two mechanisms for making calibration a visible and accountable part of the service transaction.

AGSC's ADAS committee — chaired in 2023 by Jacques Navant, who received the AGW Safety Recognition Award in September — was working to define what OEM-compliant calibration looks like across the wide variety of platforms and camera configurations now in the field. The complexity of the task reflected the diversity of the vehicle fleet: each manufacturer implements camera-based ADAS differently, and calibration procedures can vary significantly between models from the same brand.

For shop owners considering AGSC membership or certification, 2023 was a year when those credentials carried growing credibility. As state legislatures, insurers, and fleet customers began paying closer attention to calibration quality, AGSC-certified shops had a recognized third-party standard to reference when demonstrating their capability.

The council's continued legislative engagement also made 2023 a year when staying informed about AGSC activities was particularly valuable for shops operating in states where disclosure legislation was pending.