Mar10

Expanded Right-to-Repair Proposal Wins in Massachusetts

https://www.usedcardealermagazine.com/

UCDMAGAZINE.COM • WWW.NIADA.COM - January 2021, Volume 50, Number 1

The passage of an initiative on the Massachusetts ballot in November will have a major effect on independent dealers and auto service shops in that state – and perhaps throughout the nation. Voters overwhelmingly approved Question 1, an NIADA-supported proposal that expands the state’s right-to-repair law to include wirelessly transmitted vehicle data. That’s important because more and more new vehicles are using wireless communication rather than a plug-in port to transmit diagnostic and repair information – but that wireless data can only be read by franchise dealers or repair facilities approved by the manufacturer. The victory for Question 1 requires automakers to create a mobile platform that gives vehicle owners access to the data so they can share it with independent service operations. When Massachusetts passed its previous right-to-repair legislation in 2012, it led to a national standard that gave independent operations the same access to vehicle diagnostic information as franchise dealers. Experts expect Question 1’s win to have a similar effect nationwide.

UCD magazine January 2021 page 6. (2020, December 23). Retrieved March 08, 2021, from https://www.omagdigital.com/publication/?m=54087&i=688313&p=6