CIC forms ADAS-focused Consumer Advocacy Task Force
The Collision Industry Conference (CIC) has shared details about its new consumer advocacy task force, aimed at ADAS safety education.
The idea to form the Consumer Advocacy Task Force is the result of discussions among the Past Chairs Committee, chaired by CIC’s current chair, which is “responsible for overseeing the administration of CIC,” according to CIC’s website.
“I made the suggestion that we stand up a task force comprised of 11 individuals,” said CIC Chair Dan Risley at the April 22 meeting. “You might be asking, ‘What’s the difference between a task force and a committee?’ Especially for the newer people. A task force is finite in that it has a sunset. This committee is not going to last forever, so the task force has a very specific objective, and the objective is to get this done, and then the task force would eventually go.”
The task force members are CIC’s five past and five current chairs, plus a chair and co-chair:
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- Sean Carey (task force chair)
- Lou DiLisio – Past Chair CIC (task force co-chair)
- Erick Bickett – Past Chair CIC
- Jeff Peevy – Past Chair CIC
- Darrell Amberson – Past Chair CIC
- Michael Quinn – Past Chair CIC
- Barry Dorn – Repair Process & Procedures
- Josh McFarlin – Marketing Council
- Jill Tuggle – Governmental
- Liz Stein – OEM Industry Relations
- Bud Center – Talent Pool & Education
“The task force is actually a closed loop… this is just a finite group of people, but that doesn’t mean your input isn’t warranted, welcomed, or encouraged,” Risley told CIC members at the meeting.
He said feedback can be shared in two ways: at CIC open mics and via CIC’s website by filling out a web form. The task force chair and co-chair, Risley, and CIC Administrator Jordan Hendler will receive the forms.
“I don’t know how to repair cars, and so I’m a perfect chairperson for this task force,” Carey said. “I’m surrounded by dozens of people that do know how to repair cars and what is important.”
He added that he agreed to chair the task force when Risley asked him to be because, while he’s been attending CIC meetings for 29 years, this is the first time he’s felt he’s had a purpose to get behind a microphone.
“Not because I’m shy, just because I didn’t have a purpose for it. This is a purpose,” Carey said. “Today, while we’re in this room, thousands of cars will leave shops incorrectly calibrated and ADAS [calibrations] not done. It’s not going to. We owe it to the consumer to get this right. Whatever right happens to be, we owe it to the consumer, and no matter what segment of the industry you’re in: supply chain, repair, or information providers, it doesn’t matter.
“We have to combine our strengths, our knowledge, and our experience and bring more information to the marketplace. That, in general terms, is what the task force is about. But quite specifically, it’s being convened to advocate on behalf of the consumer, identify the gaps and challenges with ADAS repairs, and provide awareness and understanding to the CIC body on possible solutions or work products and recommendations of what to do. It’s our belief that without an industry-wide knowledge definition, critical safety procedures are inconsistently executed and not independently verifiable, creating preventable risk for the public.”
Risley later clarified that the task force will not set ADAS standards.
“We are not creating standards. This is just not a standard-setting entity. CIC does not do that. This task force is not doing that. We want to raise up what the issue is. They’re going to develop that problem statement, as Sean said, come up with possible solutions, what they might look like, and work products that could come of it, but we’re not creating or defining what a set standard looks like.”
Images
Featured image: Collision Industry Conference (CIC) Consumer Advocacy Task Force Chair Sean Carey speaks during the April 22, 2026, meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Lurah Lowery/Repairer Driven News)