Right to Repair law can now be enforced in Massachusetts as feds reverse course
BOSTON - The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says Massachusetts can go ahead with the Right to Repair law.
Earlier this year, the agency told automakers to ignore the state law, which voters overwhelmingly passed in 2020.
In June, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey wrote to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and NHTSA Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman protesting that advice.
The agency now says the rollout can move forward with some security changes. The law will allow drivers to take their cars to more repair shops, instead of just the dealer, who used to have exclusive access to some repair data.
The new law is expected to bring down the costs of car repairs with the added competition.
"The federal government has heeded our call and clarified that Massachusetts' Right to Repair law can now be enforced. Today's action will not only help to ease burdens and lower costs for Massachusetts drivers but also ensure that transportation regulators continue to build on the promise of the Biden administration's pro-competition, pro-consumer agenda," Warren and Markey said in a joint statement Tuesday.
NHTSA had said sharing car data would make it easier for criminals to steal that data, or take control of cars remotely.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation filed suit on November 20, 2020, to stop the law. Although the case is still working its way through the courts, the state said it would begin enforcing the law June 1. However, NHTSA said the law violated the Federal Vehicle Safety Act.
"The Right to Repair Coalition is pleased to see that NHTSA has reevaluated its position and concluded there are multiple ways to implement the right to repair law that don't conflict with the Federal Vehicle Safety Act," said Tommy Hickey, executive director of the Massachusetts Right to Repair Coalition.