Nevada and Mass. Look at Right to Repair Legislation for the 21st Century

Legislation overseeing the sharing of technical and diagnostic information between automotive manufacturers and independent, non-franchised, automotive repair facilities has recently been in front of both the Nevada State Senate and the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

The Nevada State Senate recently passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 48, which "encourages automobile manufacturers to make available to independent garages… certain information including, emission- and non-emission-related service information and training information, and diagnostic tools that are provided to franchised dealerships or authorized service networks."

Of particular interest to the auto glass industry is a line in the resolution stating that certain diagnostic and service information is necessary in determining whether a repair necessitates OE parts or whether aftermarket parts may be used. With the passage of the resolution, this information should now be more easily attainable by independent repair facilities.

In a more extensively written proposal, Massachusetts House Act 296, if passed, will mandate that automobile manufacturers share "all information necessary to provide for the diagnosis, service and repair of their vehicles."

The Massachusetts Act also cites the OE-versus-aftermarket parts clause listed in the Nevada resolution. The Massachusetts legislation also notes that there should be no discrimination in the supply of information based on a repair facility's affiliation with the manufacturer.

Additionally, the Massachusetts Act provides for the formation of "regulations setting forth an appropriate and uniform method by which motor vehicle manufacturers must provide the information required by Section 4 of this Act." As written in the Act, the regulations would be determined by the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulations, and would be put into place no later than one year after the passage of the Act.