Jan. 12, 2021—Automakers are pushing to delay the implementation of Massachusetts’ Right to Repair law.
According to a report by the NewburyPort News, OEMs are making a last-ditch effort to delay implementation of the changes as it fights to overturn the voter-approved law in federal court.
Two proposals heard Monday by the Legislature’s Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure, backed by the auto industry, would delay the starting date of the law to the 2025 model year, giving auto manufacturers three more years to comply.
Question 1 was overwhelmingly approved by voters in November 2020 and modified the state’s “right to repair” law to allow auto repair shops to access telematics data from vehicles.
Backers of Question 1 are ripping efforts to overturn the law and called on lawmakers to reject the proposals to delay its implementation, the report stated.
“This technology has been available in vehicles since 2014 and there’s no reason why this law can’t be implemented now,” Tommy Hickey, director of the Massachusetts Right to Repair Coalition and Yes on 1 coalition, told the panel.
“Massachusetts consumers have spoken, and the law now gives them the right to control their own repair data so that they can get their car fixed where they want,” Hickey said in a statement following the hearing Monday. “However, instead of listening to their customers and attempting to comply with the ballot initiative, automakers and dealers filed a baseless, anti-democratic lawsuit.”
