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Summary of Question 1
This proposed law would prohibit any motor vehicle manufacturer, starting with model year 2015, from selling or leasing, either directly or through a dealer, a new motor vehicle without allowing the owner to have access to the same diagnostic and repair information made available to the manufacturer's dealers and in-state authorized repair facilities. The manufacturer would have to allow the owner, or the owner's designated in-state independent repair facility (one not affiliated with a manufacturer or its authorized dealers), to obtain diagnostic and repair information electronically, on an hourly, daily, monthly, or yearly subscription basis, for no more than fair market value and on terms that do not unfairly favor dealers and authorized repair facilities. The manufacturer would have to provide access to the information through a non-proprietary vehicle interface, using a standard applied in federal emissions-control regulations. Such information would have to include the same content, and be in the same form and accessible in the same manner, as is provided to the manufacturer's dealers and authorized repair facilities. For vehicles manufactured from 2002 through model year 2014, the proposed law would require a manufacturer of motor vehicles sold in Massachusetts to make available for purchase, by vehicle owners and in-state independent repair facilities, the same diagnostic and repair information that the manufacturer makes available through an electronic system to its dealers and in-state authorized repair facilities. Manufacturers would have to make such information available in the same form and manner, and to the same extent, as they do for dealers and authorized repair facilities. The information would be available for purchase on an hourly, daily, monthly, or yearly subscription basis, for no more than fair market value and on terms that do not unfairly favor dealers and authorized repair facilities. For vehicles manufactured from 2002 through model year 2014, the proposed law would also require manufacturers to make available for purchase, by vehicle owners and in-state independent repair facilities, all diagnostic repair tools, incorporating the same diagnostic, repair and wireless capabilities as those available to dealers and authorized repair facilities. Such tools would have to be made available for no more than fair market value and on terms that do not unfairly favor dealers and authorized repair facilities. For all years covered by the proposed law, the required diagnostic and repair information would not include the information necessary to reset a vehicle immobilizer, an anti-theft device that prevents a vehicle from being started unless the correct key code is present. Such information would have to be made available to dealers, repair facilities, and owners through a separate, secure data release system. The proposed law would not require a manufacturer to reveal a trade secret and would not interfere with any agreement made by a manufacturer, dealer, or authorized repair facility that is in force on the effective date of the proposed law. Starting January 1, 2013, the proposed law would prohibit any agreement that waives or limits a manufacturer's compliance with the proposed law. Any violation of the proposed law would be treated as a violation of existing state consumer protection and unfair trade-practices laws.

2012 - Statewide - Question 1Do you approve of a law summarized below, on which no vote was taken by the Senate or the House of Representatives on or before May 1, 2012?

View as: # | %  
County Blanks Total Votes Cast
Barnstable More »
 
100,194
15,852
17,609
133,655
Berkshire More »
 
43,051
13,325
8,456
64,832
Bristol More »
 
174,444
30,818
38,128
243,390
Dukes More »
 
8,631
948
1,450
11,029
Essex More »
 
272,066
46,713
49,323
368,102
Franklin More »
 
28,945
4,607
4,474
38,026
Hampden More »
 
144,256
28,483
29,144
201,883
Hampshire More »
 
62,907
8,312
10,996
82,215
Middlesex More »
 
570,078
88,828
98,474
757,380
Nantucket More »
 
4,616
685
844
6,145
Norfolk More »
 
264,506
42,550
51,207
358,263
Plymouth More »
 
196,095
29,442
32,197
257,734
Suffolk More »
 
202,198
35,378
53,098
290,674
Worcester More »
 
281,616
46,621
42,631
370,868
Totals
2,353,603
392,562
438,031 3,184,196