Massachusetts voters overwhelmingly passed the Right to Repair Act back in 2020. After some initial hesitation, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration threw its support behind the law. Automakers, however, sued to stop the law from going into effect. Unfortunately for them, a judge just dismissed the lawsuit, clearing the way for the law to go into effect more than four years after it was passed, Boston.com reports.
The Right to Repair Act requires automakers to share a car’s telematics data with its owner, allowing independent repair shops to service and repair your vehicle. That would give owners of out-of-warranty cars more choice and also stop dealerships from forming an effective monopoly on car repairs. The law would also only require automakers to share data with owners of cars from the 2022 model year and newer, which means many of those vehicles are either recently out of warranty or soon to be.
While you can understand why automakers would prefer to keep a car’s data to themselves, this decision should be considered a big win for consumers, especially given the current anti-worker political environment:
Judge Denise J. Casper’s final dismissal of the charges in the federal lawsuit Tuesday — car manufacturers’ attempt to block the law from going into practice — ends a legal battle that’s gone on for years. It’s in time with many 2022 cars coming out of warranty this year.
“Today is a big win for both consumers and local independent repair shops alike,” said Tommy Hickey, executive director of the Right to Repair Coalition, in a statement.
The lawsuit, on which a verdict has been delayed seven times, was filed by the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, the car companies’ trade association. It raised concerns about cyber security, said there wasn’t time to comply with the new access requirements, and alleged the initiative is preempted by federal law.
“This lawsuit was intended solely as another delay tactic and the Attorney General demonstrably proved, and the Court correctly found, that the Massachusetts Right to Repair Law clearly does not conflict with any federal law including the Motor Vehicle Safety Act or the Clean Air Act, and it should be enforced immediately,” said Edward Colbert, who provides counsel for the Massachusetts Right to Repair Ballot Committee.
The law, Hickey said, will make people the “gatekeepers” of their car’s data and repair information.
“They will no longer be at the mercy of car manufacturers, who time and time again have chosen profits over consumer choice,” he said.
Unfortunately for Massachusetts drivers, the fight isn’t over just yet. Automakers may still appeal the ruling in hopes of finding an anti-worker judge who will overturn Judge Casper’s ruling, the Boston Globe reports. Until that officially happens, however, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell is free to enforce the law.
Automakers, however, claim that it isn’t currently possible to build a system that complies with the law, saying in an Alliance statement, “Today’s decision will introduce potential security risks to our customers and their vehicles. During the trial, the attorney general’s own experts said there wasn’t any available technology to allow for operational compliance.” Whether that claim will hold up on appeal, however, remains to be seen.