BETHESDA, Md. – The Massachusetts Right to Repair Coalition announced that it has collected 106,658 voter signatures in 19 days, exceeding the 68,911 required for the initiative to appear on the 2012 ballot in the state.
The coalition says a “groundswell of support and enthusiasm” from Massachusetts consumers has driven this issue forward in what could be record time for a signature gathering effort to reach 100,000-plus.
The Massachusetts Right to Repair voter initiative would, for the first time, allow consumers to access all of the non-proprietary repair information required to have their vehicles repaired where they choose, at a new car dealership or an independent shop. The coalition believes the proposed law would level the playing field between the big car manufacturers’ dealerships and independent, neighborhood repair facilities, allowing the latter to finally be able to access the same non-proprietary automobile diagnostic and repair information that they claim is currently only available to the manufacturers’ dealers and their new car dealerships.
On the federal level, the Motor Vehicle Owners’ Right to Repair Act (H.R. 1449) was introduced into the 112th Congress by Reps. Todd Platts (R-PA) and Edolphus Towns (D-NY) and currently has 33 co-sponsors, including Massachusetts Reps. Michael Capuano (D-MA-8), Barney Frank (D-MA-4), James McGovern (D-MA-3) and Niki Tsongas (D-MA-5).
For more information about the Right to Repair Act, visit www.righttorepair.org.
