The effort to pass a 'Right to Repair' initiative continues to be seen across the country.
"As cars become rolling computers, you have to have access to that wireless data if you're going to work on that car," Tim Winkeler, CEO and president of VIP Tires and Auto Service in Maine told News Center Maine.
"This is really just about giving people the freedom to take their car where they want to take it, and giving our great technicians across the state of Maine, the ability to work on cars now and in the future," Winkeler said in the report.
Winkeler and members of the 'Maine Right to Repair Coalition' filed an application for a citizens initiative with the Maine Secretary of State's Office.
They hope to collect signatures, and get a referendum question on the ballot in 2023 that would ask voters to require car manufacturers to make that data accessible, the news report noted.
Owner of Paulin's Tire and Auto Service Mark Paulin reported that one "needs to have that technology to even to do a simple transmission flush." Paulin hopes this citizens' initiative will allow local repair shops to stay in business.
In a news report from WGME, repair shop owner Michael Higgins said he "feels pushed out as a local business owner" and that small businesses are the backbone of the country and of Maine.
Higgins also reported that while one can't stop technology from advancing, this petition would help the local car repair shop business from dying.
