Arent Fox Automotive Group Leader Aaron Jacoby Speaks with Automotive News Regarding Massachusetts' ‘Right to Repair' Law Facing New Court Fight
The renewed fight over “right to repair” has taken another turn just weeks after Massachusetts voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot initiative that expands access to vehicle data. Arent Fox Automotive Group leader Aaron Jacoby spoke about how the timing issue for compliance is one aspect of the lawsuit the alliance could win.
The measure updates the state’s law by requiring automakers to equip vehicles that use telematics — which collect and wirelessly transmit information such as crash notifications and remote diagnostics — with a standardized open-access data platform that is accessible to vehicle owners or third parties such as repair shops starting with the 2022 model year. But now major automakers allege in a federal lawsuit that the revised law poses cybersecurity and vehicle safety risks and the short timeline sets an “impossible task” for compliance.
Aaron commented that the timing issue for compliance is one aspect of the lawsuit the alliance could win. “I think they could get more time,” Aaron said. “I don’t know that it would invalidate the law. It might just invalidate the timing provision.”
When asked whether the revised law could once again become a national standard to avoid a 50-state patchwork of bills, Aaron said: “ ’I don’t know’ is the real answer. It remains to be seen.”
“But if they do develop an open telematics platform and they do implement it, I guess there’s no reason for them not to do it” nationwide, he added.
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