On the 7th August in the United States, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed into Law a “Right to Repair” Act which is the first of its kind in the USA. The Massachusetts Legislature unanimously passed the Right to Repair bill after the car companies, new car dealers and the Massachusetts Right to Repair Coalition reached a last-minute agreement following significant public support for Government intervention on this issue. The bill includes a range of provisions including: 

• Effectively immediately - the car companies must make available to the independent vehicle repair industry the same tools, software and repair information that they make available to the franchised dealers on the same commercial terms. 
• Beginning in model year 2018 - car companies must maintain all of their software and service information in an electronic database that is available to consumers and independent service facilities on a subscription basis.

This development in Massachusetts provides an important precedent in the global fight for equal access to the essential tools and information required to service modern vehicles which is the subject of the AAAA led Choice of Repairer campaign.

Read the full press release here