The highly-anticipated Massachusetts' Right to Repair court case verdict has been delayed once again, now for the sixth time.
It has been over a year since the initial trial, which took place in June 2021.
According to a news release from the Auto Care Association, U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock cited “the need to consider fully the implications of the long-anticipated decision” and “unforeseen and unforeseeable scheduling complications encountered in the past several weeks coming upon the extended holiday weekend” as the reasons for the delay.
The delay is expected to be short, the release noted.
Massachusetts voters approved the Right to Repair legislation back in November 2020 with an overwhelming 75-25 percent margin. The law would require manufacturers to provide vehicle owners both access and control of the diagnostic and repair data generated by their vehicles.
Shortly after the vote, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an organization comprised of automakers, filed an lawsuit to overturn the data access ballot question based on a number of allegations including "cybersecurity concerns, insufficient time to comply with the new data access requirements, and their contention that the ballot initiative is preempted by federal law," said the news released.
