BETHESDA, Maryland – The Auto Care Association issued a statement applauding the Senate Commerce Committee for including a vehicle-data access and control amendment in the “American Vision for Safer Transportation through Advancement of Revolutionary Technologies” (“AV START”) Act.
The amendment, sponsored by U.S. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., calls for the Department of Transportation to convene a federal advisory committee to provide recommendations to Congress “with respect to the ownership of, control of, or access to, information or data that vehicles collect, generate, record or store in an electronic form that is retrieved from a highly automated vehicle or automated driving system.”
The inclusion of the amendment coincided with a the two-day legislative summit hosted by the Auto Care Association. The 2017 Auto Care Legislative Summit, held Oct. 3–4, provided members of the Auto Care Association with the opportunity to meet one-on-one with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to share the most pressing issues in the auto care industry.
Members held more than 120 meetings with policymakers and staffers, discussing key facts, figures and implications of current and future legislation affecting the aftermarket. Topics included the control of vehicle data, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and tax reform.
“The inclusion of the data access and control amendment is an important step in the industry’s efforts to obtain direct access to data generated by embedded vehicle telematics systems,” said Bill Hanvey, president and CEO of the Auto Care Association. “We are particularly proud of our members that participated in the Auto Care Legislative Summit. Their hard work on Capitol Hill was crucial in conveying the importance of access to critical telematics data for the independent aftermarket and its customers. Auto Care believes that it is critical to ensuring competition in the vehicle repair market and that this data be controlled by car owners, not the vehicle manufacturers.”
Supporters of the AV START Act (S 1885) say it is intended to advance efforts to improve roadway safety through the deployment of self-driving vehicles. The bill with the data-access amendment now moves to the Senate floor, where the association has vowed to work for its approval.
