ADVOCATES SAY LAW PUTS YOU IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT
Approval called crucial for independent mechanics’ survival
LoWNLL » Santiago Castillo, owner of Pro Car Auto Repair on Riverside Street in Lowell, explains the need behind ballot Question 1 — the “right to repair” question — with the story of a would-be customer who recently stopped by his garage because their check engine light was on.
Castillo said he likely could have helped with whatever the issue was, but when he tried to connect to the car’s internal computer system to find out why the light was on, his was prompted to enter a password that only a dealership has access to.
“I told the customer, there is nothing I can do for your car. I’m so sorry,” Castillo said. “They had the check engine light on. I could see it, but I couldn’t take care of the car.”
Santiago joined advocates for Question 1 in a conference call with Sun editors last week for a discussion of their view of the issue.
Tommy Hickey, director of the Massachusetts Right to Repair Coalition, said that as more vehicles begin using wireless “telemetrics” diagnostic technology that was specifically exempted from a 2013 “right to repair” law, stories like Castillo’s will become increasingly common until independent mechanics are forced to close as a result of losing their ability to make repairs.
“Car manufacturers have a monopoly on this information,”
Hickey said. “It’s a way to bypass this 2013 law because cars are now computers on wheels.”
Meanwhile, automakers have used privacy concerns regarding the data now collected by vehicles to start what former Lowell Police Superintendent and Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis, who runs a cyber security firm and is working with advocates for Question 1, describes as nothing but a “fear campaign.”
Davis said advertisements
urging voters to say “No” on Question 1 have featured women walking alone in dark parking lots as a man who stole their personal data approaches them in a hooded sweatshirt. He harkened back to his days with Lowell and Boston police as he said those images were put into advertisements precisely because opponents of Question 1 know they play on people’s fears.
“I can spot a fear campaign from a mile away,” Davis said. “And that’s exactly what they’re doing.”
Davis said that during his decades in law enforcement, surveys showed that women being alone in parking lots was always identified as one of the times when people feel most vulnerable, and he said it’s no accident that opponents used such images. “So they’re looking at those same surveys, and they’re leveraging people’s fears,” Davis said. “The hoodie, the parking lot — they’re trying to frighten people into into agreeing with them when there’s really no technological reason for them to make those claims.”
Hickey agrees the claims that personal information will be misused are nothing but a fear tactic. He points to the specific language in the ballot question that limits the information shared with mechanics to diagnostic data about vehicles. He said the ballot question essentially just gives vehicle owners the right to give whomever they want access to their vehicle’s diagnostic data, instead of leaving that ability solely in automaker’s hands.
“This is restricted to mechanical information necessary to diagnose, maintain and repair the car,” Hickey said. “It says in the actual language (of the ballot question). It’s in the Attorney General’s summary. And that’s all we’re after — in order to diagnose, maintain and repair the car, you do not need GPS information; you do not need personal information.”
While it may seem that Castillo could still diagnose and fix vehicles without accessing the computers, both Santiago and Hickey said it’s not that simple, since the computers and censors on modern cars will not function properly if they’re not updated when parts are adjusted or replaced.
Even work as simple as an alignment or changing a tire could become impossible for independent garage owners like Castillo as more and more new cars rely on such computer systems, while automakers refuse to give the mechanics access to information, according to the advocates.
“You used to just put a tire on and that was that you drove away, but now if you put a tire on you have to go online — all the censors in the car need to know that, hey, this new part is on here,” Hickey said. “And that’s really the issue. They’re using security through obscurity to keep independent repairs at their mercy.”
Hickey said his organization represents about 1,600 independent repair shops in Massachusetts and about “40,000 jobs in the aftermarket.” He said dealerships are currently about 30% more expensive than independent mechanics when it comes to repairs, and he said that difference could become even steeper if dealerships can corner the market and reduce their competition.
Davis made an analogy with other features that are and are not on vehicles today as he scoffed at the idea that automakers are only concerned about people’s safety.
“Car manufacturers are manufacturing cars right now that go 150 miles an hour — that’s twice the legal speed limit anywhere in the United States,” Davis said. “They’re also manufacturing cars that allow somebody who’s impaired to get in and drive them — even though there’s technology to stop that from happening. But all of a sudden they’re concerned about a woman in a parking lot? It’s just so dishonest. It just amazes me.”