Wheelchair right to repair becomes law

The momentum continues for right to repair in Oregon. On Monday, June 9, Gov. Tina Kotek  signed Senate Bill 550, Oregon’s wheelchair right to repair bill, into law. 

After passage last year of Oregon’s right to repair law for electronics and home appliances, we kept hearing from wheelchair users that multiple barriers exist to get simple fixes done on their chairs, often leading to significant delays getting their chairs back to fully working order. A PIRG survey from 2022 found that 62% of wheelchair users said the average repair took 4 or more weeks, and 40% estimated it takes 7 or more weeks on average to get a repair completed.

Obviously, this poses major problems for people’s abilities to go to school, to work, or participate in social life. We knew that we wanted to come back as soon as possible to add wheelchairs to Oregon’s right to repair law. Right to repair champion State Senator Janeen Sollman agreed and introduced SB 550, which adds wheelchairs and complex rehabilitation technology to Oregon’s right to repair law. 

“It’s common sense and it sends the power back to Oregonians who depend on wheelchairs and other mobility devices,” said Sen. Sollman, “I fundamentally believe that if you own the product you should have the freedom to choose whether to fix it yourself, go to a local shop or visit a dealer for repair.”

Wren, a student at Oregon State University who uses a wheelchair testified in support of the bill in committee. She said: 

“When I was 16 I went on vacation and randomly… my controller started giving me an error code that we didn’t know what it meant… We couldn’t figure out, due to no resources being available, what it was. We didn’t know if my chair was safe for me to drive and because we were out of state I didn’t have a back up option. …When we got home, it took 6 months to get my chair fixed.”

Wren’s story is one shared by so many Oregonians. As a result of hers and others’ advocacy, starting January 1, wheelchair users will have access to what they need to fix their chairs.

“OSPIRG is proud to play a role in expanding repair access to all Oregonians,” said Charlie Fisher, OSPIRG’s state director, “The Right to repair makes life more secure and takes away the physical and financial burden that comes with having to go through a limited number of “authorized” dealers.