With that is why-we-can’t-have-nice-things department
Just over a yr ago, Maine residents voted overwhelmingly (83 percent) to pass a brand new state repair law that goals to make automotive repairs easier and cheaper. More specifically, the law requires automakers to standardize on-board diagnostic systems and supply distant access to these systems and mechanical data to consumers and independent repair shops.
But as we’ve got seen with other states which have passed law reform laws (most notably New York), passing a law is not the end of the story. Corporate lobbyists have had great success in doing greater than just weakening these laws before transition, but After voters approve of them.
Maine original and unclear law requires manufacturers to provide automotive owners, independent repairers and licensed dealers with transparent access to vehicle data for repair and diagnostic purposes. He also demanded the creation of Maine Automotive Right to Repair Working Group define the contours of the law and help construct an independent entity to manage vehicle data sent to independent repairers.
This has develop into… an advanced process.
The original law didn’t include any key definitions, so it needs to be clarified. There are also discussions on whether the law should require “the merger of independent repair facilities, disclosure of the extent of warranty coverage for work performed, notifying customers whether technicians are certified by the manufacturer, and informing customers whether OEM parts are used in repairs.”
Much of the debate revolves around ensuring that the language is specific enough in order that it can’t be abused by the inevitable lawsuits from the industry. There have been other debates about how stringent enforcement of consumer privacy ought to be (recall that automakers do some of the worst privacy and security standards in all technology).
As these debates have raged, automaker lobbyists have worked tirelessly for much of the last yr to undermine that power (and even rewrite) essential parts of the law.
Assuming the law is ultimately passed, enforcement will develop into one other matter. In all the states which have passed recent right-to-repair laws, most corporations simply ignore them. I’m unsure I’ve seen a single enforcement motion in any of the eleven states which have passed various repair laws.
With a Trumpist an attack on coherent federal governance relegating rather a lot of legal disputes to the state level (immigration, consumer protection, environmental protection, labor), I strongly suspect that enforcing the recent fixer law with any consistency won’t be a top priority for cash-strapped states a thousand different major battles in a thousand different fronts.
Still, the movement itself, very bipartisan in nature, shows no signs of slowing down and appears to be getting stronger as more firms try to monopolize repairs.
Filed Under: automotive manufacturers, maine, privacy, right to repair
 to pass a new state right to repair law designed to make auto repairs easier and more affordable. More specifically, the law requires that automakers standardize on-board diagnostic systems and provide remote access to those systems and mechanical data to consumers and third-party independent repair shops.…){kind=link}