Right to Repair Scores Big Win Thanks to Massachusetts Voters

Right to Repair Scores Big Win Thanks to Massachusetts Voters

The Right to Repair law allows owners to authorize access to their vehicles data without manufacturer approval.

Massachusetts voters approved Question 1 on their November ballots. While you may not live in the Bay State, it will most likely prove to benefit you anyway.

Massachusetts’ Question 1 mandated that manufacturers would be required starting with 2022 models to make telematics data accessible wirelessly to third parties. Massachusetts’ existing Right to Repair law didn’t require this information to be made available to manufacturers.

The amendments approved by voters this past election, means vehicle owners will be able to get repairs from independent repair shops, without approval from manufacturers. Prior to the latest approved changes, manufacturers didn’t have to share information about a vehicle that had been collected via telematics.

Vehicle telematics are systems in a motor vehicle that collect information generated by the operation of the vehicle that is then transmitted through wireless communications to a remote receiving point where it is stored.The measure allowed vehicle owners to access telematics system data through a mobile device application and to give consent for independent repair facilities to access that data and send commands to the system for repair, maintenance, and diagnostic testing. ~ BallotPedia

The existing Right to Repair law passed in Massachusetts granted access to data, but excluded data collected via telematics. Vehicle manufacturers began to exploit this law, by adding telematics to more and more vehicles.

Owners with vehicles collecting data via telematics, could only get their vehicles repaired at a dealership—which usually comes with a premium price.

The new law requires the data to be made accessible via a mobile application, so that owners can provide authorized access to that data for diagnostic and repair.

If you don’t live in Massachusetts, why does this matter to you?

When the state passed its original Right to Repair law in 2012, auto manufacturers agreed to abide by the law voluntarily in all 50 states. There’s no reason to believe the same thing won’t happen this time.

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