Members of Congress challenge vehicle data access ‘Double Standard’

Raises questions on protections for independent repairers and potential to harm local auto auto repair businesses

Washington, D.C.—Democrats in Congress are warning that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) proposed guidance for implementation of Massachusetts’ Data Access Law conflicts with the Biden administration’s pledged support for right to repair.

As reported by POLITICO, former auto repair shop owner and REPAIR and SMART Act co-sponsor Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA) joined Reps. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) and Jared Golden (D-ME) in sending a letter to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and NHSTA Administrator Sophie Shulman outlining concerns that NHSTA’s latest guidance may unfairly harm independent repairers.

Citing differences in remote data access, the lawmakers’ letter warns that NHTSA’s current guidance creates a “double standard” between automaker repair networks and independent repair businesses that may “entrench manufacturers’ dominance in the repair market in the long run…[and] harm competition.”