Dive Brief:
- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says automakers can share vehicle data with independent repair shops in Massachusetts using short-range wireless communications technology.
- NHTSA told 22 automakers June 13 not to comply with the Massachusetts’ Data Access Law because sharing data wirelessly using long-range communications technology could create security vulnerabilities in their vehicles. NHTSA’s latest decision overturns that guidance.
- Automakers can comply with the new law by providing wireless access "from within close physical distance to the vehicle," but not across a greater distance, using Bluetooth or another system, the Massachusetts attorney general’s office told the State House News Service.
Dive Insight:
The state’s Data Access Law, updated and approved by Massachusetts voters in 2020, allows consumers to shop around for vehicle repairs. It requires that independent repair shops, including body shops, have access to the same vehicle diagnostic data and repair information that’s available to dealerships.
NHTSA initially said federal law preempted the Massachusetts law because it violated the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act.
The state’s attorney general, Andrea Campbell, began enforcing the law on June 1 after a court rejected a last-minute request to block the law’s enforcement on May 30. That’s when NHTSA stepped in to warn automakers about the cybersecurity risks of complying with the state’s law.
In a statement to Reuters, the Massachusetts AG’s office said it appreciated "NHTSA’s clarification today that our state law is not preempted by federal law” and that automakers must follow the law and receive "a reasonable period of time" to prepare.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a lobby group representing automakers in the U.S., had argued in court that granting wider access to telematics would require automakers to remove cybersecurity protection from vehicles, which could create a potential pathway to send malicious commands to a moving vehicle.
However, Auto Innovators reached a right-to-repair agreement with organizations representing independent repair shops in July. According to a letter, independent repair shops perform 70% of post-warranty vehicle repairs.
The agreement may influence state and federal efforts to adopt new automotive right-to-repair laws in the U.S.
In a joint statement, Massachusetts Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey said Tuesday's decision by NHTSA will help "ease burdens and lower costs for Massachusetts drivers.”
