Independent repair associations join with insurers, parts suppliers, fleet operators and consumer groups to call for data access guarantees in federal legislation.
In comments to U.S. House and Senate committees considering autonomous vehicle legislation, the U.S. Vehicle Data Access Coalition, a broad based and growing group of automotive repair and supplier association and businesses, last week called for legislators to reaffirm a vehicle owner’s right to access data in their cars and promote competition in repairs.
The letter to the chairs and ranking minority members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, outlined the coalition’s concerns that without data access, vehicle owners will find competition and their ability to get their vehicles repaired, limited by vehicle manufacturers.
The letter from the coalition stated:
With respect to the feedback requested by congressional staff on policy matters to be addressed in a new bi-partisan, bi-cameral autonomous vehicle bill, the Coalition’s focus is simple — the Coalition urges Congress to:
- Expand Section 24302 of the 2015 federal surface transportation/highway law (which confirmed vehicle owner’s rights to control data from a vehicle’s “electronic data recorder”) to cover all data generated by the use of a motor vehicle;
- Reaffirm a vehicle owner’s right to control and access this data;
- Mandate that such control and access be bi-directional and in real time with non-proprietary standardized language; and,
- Preserve competition, consumer protection and privacy with respect to vehicle data access, including preserving competition in the aftermarket and replacement parts and service sectors of the economy.
They also stressed that the issue is not limited to just autonomous vehicles, but all vehicles on the road today.
“Data access is not solely an AV issue – it applies to the motor vehicles on the road today as well as those that will be deployed in the coming decades. As a result, Congress may elect to address vehicle data access policy matters as a stand-alone bill, as part of an AV or privacy bill, or to use as precedent the EDR provision from the 2015 highway bill to include vehicle data access language in the safety title of the next federal surface transportation program reauthorization bill,” the coalition stated in its comments submitted to the committees.
“From the Coalition’s point of view, the legislative vehicle is less important than getting a vehicle data access bill done and reaffirming the rights of vehicle owners to control vehicle generated data,” the August 23 letter continued.
As the growth in electronic systems and advanced driver assistance systems in vehicles have led to a dramatic increase in the number of common repairs where OEM procedures require that vehicle owners, repairers and suppliers access diagnostic systems, require recalibration or reprogramming of systems on vehicles.
Vehicle manufacturers have also reinforced the need for the repair industry to scan and recalibrate systems in position statements and are supporting efforts with the Automotive Service Association through the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers to have state legislation passed requiring the repair industry to use, and insurance companies to pay for, OEM collision repair procedures.
There are several collision repair and insurance industry groups as well as suppliers who signed on to the comments including American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA), Auto Care Association, Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association, Automotive Body Parts Association (ABPA), Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA), Automotive Service Association (ASA) and the Coalition for Auto Repair Equality (CARE), and National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC).
Enterprise Holdings, Inc., LKQ Corporation and Safelite Group, Inc. were also among collision industry companies that were signatories of the comments letter.
According to the letter, the Coalition was formed in 2017 “…with a simple federal legislative goal – to reaffirm — and codify — a motor vehicle owner’s right to control the motor vehicle data generated by the vehicles owned by that individual or company. The Coalition started with a handful of stakeholders and has grown into a large and diverse stakeholder group representing consumer advocates, light- and heavy-duty motor vehicle fleet owners, insurance companies, technology companies and the motor vehicle aftermarket parts and repair industry. Together, Coalition members represent over 85 percent of the owners of motor vehicles in the United States – or approximately 224 million vehicles.”
Concerns over vehicle data access are part of an effort to amend the 2012 Massachusetts Right to Repair law that was announced earlier this year. The Massachusetts Right to Repair coalition has launched a grassroots and advertising campaign to educate Massachusetts policymakers, businesses and consumers about the threat that telematics-access restrictions by vehicle manufacturers may pose to small business and consumer repair choice.
The complete list of the U.S. Vehicle Data Access Coalition members includes:
- American Bus Association
- American Car Rental Association
- American Fleet Leasing Association
- American Property Casualty Insurance Association
- Auto Care Association
- Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association
- Automotive Body Parts Association
- Automotive Recyclers Association
- Automotive Service Association
- Coalition for Auto Repair Equality
- Coalition for Smarter Transportation
- Consumer Action
- MERA – The Association of Sustainable Manufacturing
- NAFA Fleet Management Association
- National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies
- National Consumers League
- National Motor Freight Traffic Association, Inc.
- Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association
- Telematics Industry Association
- eDriving
- Enterprise Holdings, Inc.
- GPS Insight
- Geotab, Inc.
- LKQ Corporation
- Privacy4Cars
- Recall Masters, Inc. Safelite Group, Inc.
- Swift Transportation Company
- UPS
- Zone Defense LLC
Related Articles:
Panel Discussion Examines Vehicle Data Access and its Impact on Consumer Auto Repair Choice
Auto Care Association, ETI Support Data Access Amendments to Federal Autonomous Vehicle Legislation
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