Judge rules in favor of Massachusetts car data access law

Massachusetts car owners have one less roadblock in the way when they want to fix their vehicles, as of Feb. 11. U.S. District Court Judge Denise Casper dismissed a lawsuit against a repair data access law, handing a defeat to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an association of car manufacturers which sought to block the law. 

The law requires car manufacturers to allow car owners to access any repair or maintenance information generated by their car and transmitted over the internet (as well as transmit that data to a third party of their choice). Voters approved the measure in a 2020 ballot question by a 75% to 25% margin. 

Maine voters then passed a largely identical measure in 2023. Automakers are also suing to block implementation of Maine’s law. 

In response, Tommy Hickey, executive director of the Massachusetts Right to Repair Coalition, which backed the ballot question, said, “Car owners can now be the gatekeepers of their own repair information and choose where to get their cars repaired. They will no longer be at the mercy of car manufacturers, who time and time again have chosen profits over consumer choice.”

Automakers, through their trade group the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, reportedly are considering an appeal.