California SB 1384 passed and was just signed into law by the governor. This right to repair legislation is about powered wheelchairs in particular. In short:
– The criteria have been broadened, or relaxed, for who qualifies as an independent repair shop for power wheelchairs;
– “documentation, parts, embedded software, firmware, and tools used to inspect, diagnose, maintain, and repair the wheelchair” must be provided to “an owner or an independent repair provider for the purposes of providing service on the equipment”
This is great news. It should be helpful for us (the disabled powerchair owners) to fix, or get our chairs, fixed as quickly as possible! Thanks to all the advocates out there who worked so hard to get this made into law.
Honestly, it should also be great news for the wheelchair manufacturers. They now have extra incentives to plan and design for maintainability of their equipment. I hope they have been following along with the legislation and are prepared to do that. The result will be that their customers will be a lot happier!
And I am loving the details in this bill about firmware and diagnostic tools – two things that I’d like to have for my own chair that have previously been refused to me by the manufacturer. It may be a battle over what they will hold back as a trade secret, but at least we have a starting point for that battle.
It also includes:
(1)Batteries.
(2)Battery chargers.
(3)Nonprogrammable joysticks.
(4)Joystick housings or brackets.
(5)Wheel assembly.
(6)Nonpositioning accessories.
(7)Antitip devices.
(8)Armrests, excluding positioning components designed for adjustment by a therapist or assistive technology professional.
(9)Caster spheres.
(10)Cosmetic shrouding.
(11)Floor mats.
(12)Floor plates.
(13)Nonpowered leg lowerers.
Here’s the text of the bill: https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240sb1384
And here is a PDF with some extra analysis from earlier this year: https://apcp.assembly.ca.gov/system/files/2024-06/sb-1384-dodd-apcp-analysis.pdf
