BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 750
Author: Hernandez (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMM. : 7-1, 5/10/11
AYES: Gaines, Harman, Huff, Kehoe, Lowenthal, Pavley,
Simitian
NOES: DeSaulnier
NO VOTE RECORDED: Rubio
SUBJECT : Motor vehicle keys
SOURCE : BMW Group
DIGEST : This bill allows BMW to continue providing
replacement keys for its vehicles, rather than providing
information to locksmiths to produce replacement keys.
ANALYSIS : SB 1542 (Migden), Chapter 433, Statutes of
2006, requires that a manufacturer of motor vehicles sold
or leased in California beginning in 2008 provide a
registered owner of a vehicle, though a registered
locksmith, with the information the locksmith needs to
produce a replacement key or other functionally similar
device to enable the registered owner to enter, start, and
operate his/her vehicle. The law includes various security
measures, including a requirement that the locksmith
already be registered with the manufacturer, a process for
the locksmith to verify the identity of the vehicle's
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registered owner, and a requirement that the locksmith
destroy the information once he/she has produced the
replacement key or functionally similar device.
This provision of law does not apply to:
A manufacturer of a make of vehicles that sold less than
2,500 vehicles in California in the prior calendar year.
This includes Rolls Royce, Maserati, Ferrari, and over a
dozen other makes of automobiles.
Until January 1, 2013, a vehicle line of a motor vehicle
manufacturer that sold between 2,500 and 5,000 vehicles
(i.e., Saab).
Until January 1, 2013, a vehicle line of a motor vehicle
manufacturer that on January 1, 2006 did not provide for
the production of replacement keys or similar devices by
anyone other than the vehicle manufacturer itself,
provided that the manufacturer operates a request line
available at all times through which a replacement key
could be furnished within one day or via the next
overnight delivery at the request of a registered owner
or registered owner's family member. (This provision was
included in SB 1542 to address the system BMW uses to
provide replacement keys to registered owners of its
vehicles).
This bill deletes the January 1, 2013 sunset date on the
provision allowing a manufacturer with a system in place by
2006 to furnish a key itself rather than provide
information to a locksmith to make a replacement key. This
would in effect allow BMW a permanent exemption from the
system that allows locksmiths to produce replacement
vehicle keys.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/11/11)
BMW Group (source)
OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/11/11)
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AAA Northern California
Automobile Club of Southern California
California Locksmiths Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The bill's sponsor, BMW, reports
that due to the difficulty of reproducing its more
sophisticated keys and the need for international security
of its vehicles, it sought and received, subject to a
five-year sunset, an alternative approach (described in the
third bullet above) to the general provisions of SB 1542.
Under this special provision, an automobile manufacturer
must do the following:
Operate a 24/7 telephone or electronic request service
for lost or misplaced keys to registered owners of a
vehicle or the owner's family members.
Produce a replacement key or functionally similar device
that allows the registered owner of a vehicle or family
member to enter, start, and operate the vehicle.
Deliver the key to the registered owner of the vehicle or
family member at a reasonable cost within one day of the
request or via the next overnight delivery.
According to BMW, the sunset provision of January 1, 2013
allowed automobile manufacturers availing themselves of
this provision to determine if additional technology could
be developed for the same level of security while
accommodating customer needs. To date, BMW reports that it
has found the current 24/7 process meets the customer's
needs for lost and misplaced keys and that no additional
technology has been developed that can better deliver those
services.
Since the effective date of SB 1542 on January 1, 2008, BMW
has received approximately 4,400 lost key requests through
its customer service process. According to BMW
representatives, in all but one instance the requested
replacement key was delivered to the vehicle owner within
24 hours or via the next overnight delivery. BMW's
representatives state that the manufacturer has received no
owner complaints concerning BMW's key replacement process.
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ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Automobile Club of Southern
California and AAA Northern California (the Auto Clubs),
the sponsors of SB 1542 in 2006, oppose this bill because
it would weaken the consumer protections that SB 1542
created and do so solely to benefit a foreign special
interest.
The Auto Clubs sponsored SB 1542 in response to their
membership becoming increasingly frustrated with the
difficulty and expense of getting a replacement when a key
was lost, stolen, broken, or defective. As keys have
incorporated new technologies, making a replacement key
requires coding information that only the manufacturer can
provide. Manufacturers did not want to release this key
code information, but SB 1542 created a system through
which manufacturers could safely do so. The Auto Clubs
note that BMW has had five years to comply with the key
replacement system the Legislature created in 2006, and
that there is no reason to continue to exempt BMW from this
system.
JJA:mw 5/11/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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