'Chipped Key' Senate Bill SB1542

[kahnartist]

Folks: Remember my oldddddd post entitled the $125 Ridgeline key?

This new bill is 'heartwarming'. Just passed by the Senate and brought into being by our own Bay Area, Carol Migden, this bill approves a 'registered locksmith' to retreive the key code for your Honda Ridgeline (and hundreds of other vehicles) keys...and possibly bypass the inflated Dealer cartel/cost on obtaining 'chipped' car keys.

This has to do with all makes of vehicles that have 'chipped' keys...and FORCE all of us to the dealership if keys are lost. I had an interesting post on this some time ago...concerning what it would cost you if you lost your Ridgeline key--well over $125 PER KEY...to get it coded, chipped, etc.

Enjoy....I'm sure all car dealers are pretty upset that this puppy got by.


This bill establishes a statutory scheme whereby
a motor vehicle owner or family member could, through the
use of a registered locksmith, access the needed
information from the motor vehicle manufacturer to enable
the locksmith to reproduce a replacement key that would
enable the vehicle owner to enter, start and operate the
motor vehicle.

Assembly Amendments (1) require a vehicle manufacturer to
retain and make the information required by this bill
available for at least 25 years from the date of
manufacture; (2) specify that the bill does not apply to a
vehicle line of a motor vehicle manufacturer that sold
between 2,500 and 5,000 vehicles of that line in the prior
calendar year in the state, and sunsets this provision on
January 1, 2013; (3) specify that the bill does not apply
to a manufacturer make that sold fewer than 2,500 vehicles
in the prior calendar year in the State; (4) specify the
duties imposed on a manufacturer pursuant to this bill may
be performed either by the manufacturer or by an agent
through a contract; and (5) state that the provisions of
this bill are severable.

ANALYSIS : Existing law does not address the issue of
owner access to vehicle key information.

This bill:

1.Makes various findings and declarations regarding the
need for vehicle owners to be able to gain entry to and
operate their vehicles in a timely, convenient, and
reliable manner.

2.Requires motor vehicle manufacturers of new motor
vehicles sold or leased on and after January 1, 2008, to
provide the means whereby registered owners may, through
a registered locksmith, access the information that is
necessary to permit the production of a replacement key
or other functionally similar device by the registered
locksmith that will allow the owner to enter, start, and
operate the vehicle.

3.Requires the means to access this information to be
available by telephone or electronically 24 hours a day
and seven days a week.

4.Specifies security procedures that must be followed by
the vehicle's registered owner, the registered locksmith,
and the vehicle manufacturer in order for the needed key
duplication information to be made available by the
manufacturer to the locksmith, and immunizes the
manufacturer and locksmith from liability for theft of
the vehicle if the statutory procedures are followed.
These procedures include having the locksmith verify the
identity of the requesting vehicle owner, and that the
registration address matches the owner's address, and
having the locksmith destroy all information in his or
her possession that was accessed from the vehicle
manufacturer after giving it to the vehicle owner.
Manufacturer responsibilities would include requiring the
locksmith to confirm his or her registration, complying
with other reasonable authentication procedures, and
confirming the verifications described above.

5.Defines, for the purposes of this bill, a "registered
locksmith" as a locksmith licensed and bonded in
California that has registered with a motor vehicle
manufacturer and has been issued a registry number and
security password by the manufacturer. A registered owner
would also include a lessee of the vehicle when the
lessee's name appears on the vehicle registration.

6.Defines, for the purposes of this bill, "information" to
include the vehicle's key code, immobilizer or access
code, and any successor technology or terminology.

7.Defines, for the purposes of this bill, "motor vehicle"
to mean a passenger vehicle, but not a housecar,
motorcycle, or other two-wheeled motor vehicle.

8.Exempts from this bill's requirements, until January 1,
2013, a vehicle manufacturer's vehicle line that sold
between 2,500 and 5,000 vehicles in the prior calendar
year in California.

9.Specifies that this bill does not apply to a vehicle
line of a motor vehicle manufacturer that on January 1,
2006, does not provide for the reproduction of a key or
other functionally similar device that allows the vehicle
to be entered, started, and operated, by anyone other
than the vehicle manufacturer itself and only itself,
provided that the vehicle manufacturer operates a
telephone or electronic request line 24 hours a day and
seven days a week and, upon the request of the registered
owner or his or her family member, furnishes to the
registered owner at a reasonable cost within one day of
the request or via the next overnight delivery, a
replacement key or other functionally similar device that
will allow the vehicle to be entered, started, and
operated.

10.Sunsets the provisions described in # `9) above on
January 1, 2013.

11.Specifies that this bill does not apply to a
manufacturer that sold fewer than 2,500 vehicles in
California in the prior calendar year.

12.Allows vehicle manufacturers to perform the duties
assigned to them by this bill either by themselves or
through the use of a contract agent.

13.Provides that if, subsequent to January 1, 2008, a
vehicle line of an exempted manufacturer provides for the
reproduction by anyone, other than the vehicle
manufacturer itself, of a key or other functionally
similar device that will allow the vehicle to be entered,
started, and operated, this bill's provisions will apply
to that vehicle line.

14.Provide that this bill's provisions are severable, so
that if any particular provision is held inactive, that
invalidity will not affect this bill's other provisions.

[kahnartist]

Here is the website with the FULL version. It had to be cut down to fit within the permeters of this website.

Linda

http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/bill/sen/...sen_floor.html

[NKyRidge]

so the bill starts 2008 right?

[kahnartist]

Yep...starts 2008. So you can start 'loosing' and misplacing your keys then.

By the way...no one said the 'Registered Locksmiths' are going to be any less than the dealer.

This was basically all about consumers having other options for getting a key. It was in fact a car Dealer 'Cartel' on each vehicle manufacturer key...
This was the major bone of contention here.
No choices for the consumer...who was literally FORCED to the dealer for spare keys.

Now that keys are coded/chipped, the days of the $1.25 hardware spare are looonnnnngggg gone!


Enjoy all!

[Toobuku]

That sounds like great news Linda, but from a professional point of view, I hope they start doing thorough background checks on these locksmith like they always do but periodically follow up on them because I see the potential for increase stolen vehicle thefts and burglary from motor vehicle cases if these chipped keys fall into the wrong hands. It is a buzz within the civil service community and that isn't good!

[25 Year Honda Owner]

The liberals are after us. Beware!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!