BETHESDA, Md. (July 18, 2003) — Reps. Joe Barton and Edolphus Towns introduced the Motor Vehicle Owners' Right to Repair Act this week in the House.
The bill, which had the support of 53 co-sponsors, was referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA) said.
The bill would mandate that the Federal Trade Commission issue rules that would require car companies to make available all tools and information necessary to service today's sophisticated vehicle systems, AAIA said. Under an earlier commitment by auto makers to make much of this information available by Aug. 31, all have developed Web sites for this purpose, according to the task force appointed to monitor their progress. Still, some industry associations have continued the push for legislation to make sure auto makers hold true to the commitment in the future.
“By ensuring the availability of information for all vehicle systems, passage of HR 2735 would continue the progress made by the aftermarket in securing regulations federally and in California that currently only require access to emissions-related information and tools,” said Alfred L. Gaspar, president and CEO of Bethesda-based AAIA. “While car companies have moved toward making more information available, we need to ensure the future of competition for our industry and car owners by the passage of strong right to repair legislation.”