Second, according to Vermont State Senator Pearson, manufacturers’ safety arguments are difficult to square with the experience of repair in the automotive sector:
The security and safety issues we heard earlier today were similar to what we heard during the [Vermont legislative] task force. And to me, the arguments are largely bogus, and they fall apart. When we think about motor vehicles, I think we would all agree an automobile is one of the more dangerous products that we own and we control. To say that consumers should not be permitted to take electronics to a repair shop is basically insisting that our cars have to be repaired at the dealer.
We’ve rejected this argument as a society, and this has to do with a ton of steel that we’re hurtling down the road, you know. We’d be wise to do the same when it comes to lightweight electronics, heavy washing machines, everything in between.[1]
Gay Gordon-Byrne of the Repair Association also noted that, “taking an alternator out of a car and putting it up on a hoist and dropping it on my foot is pretty dangerous” compared to opening up the back of a computer and putting in a new motherboard or replacing a screen.[2] The automotive sector demonstrates that consumers and independent repair shops are able to repair cars every day even though cars are a diverse group of complex machines that contain gasoline and battery acid and have hundreds of moving parts. With appropriate parts, repair information, and training, consumers and independent repair shops would similarly be capable of safely repairing other products.
Third, manufacturers can choose to make products safer to repair when considering a product’s design.[3] For instance, making lithium ion cellular pouches easily replaceable would decrease the likelihood of puncture during replacement and thus thermal runaways. As Theresa McDonough explained:
[T]his is an issue that companies have created themselves. If you don’t want us being injured by repairing the battery, which is going to go, then why glue them in? Why not have them easily removable like they used to be?[4]
- ↑ Transcript, at 156–57.
- ↑ Id. at 146.
- ↑ Id. at 28.
- ↑ Id. at 23–24.
public health concern related to servicing of medical devices, including by third party servicers, that would justify imposing additional/different burdensome regulatory requirements at this time.” FDA Report on the Quality, Safety and Effectiveness of Servicing Medical Devices, at 23 (2018), https://www.fda.gov/media/113431/download (last visited Mar. 18, 2021).
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