Consumers Will Gain Immediate Access to Car-Key Replacements with Auto Club-Sponsored Bill in Upcoming Senate Hearing

LOS ANGELES--April 5, 2006--Motorists will have 24-hour access to replacing lost or stolen high-tech electronic vehicle keys under a bill sponsored by the Automobile Club of Southern California scheduled to receive its first legislative committee hearing on April 18.

Senate Bill 1542, authored by State Sen. Carole Migden, is scheduled to be heard before the Senate Transportation Committee on April 18. The bill requires the establishment of a safe, secure method for motorists to obtain electronic code information necessary to reproduce many of today's high-tech vehicle keys.

"New computer technology to prevent auto theft is being added to more and more new vehicle keys each year," said Alice Bisno, the Auto Club's vice president for legislative affairs. "However, motorists who lose these new high-tech car keys often face delays, inconvenience and significantly more expense in replacing keys, because locksmiths and other car repair facilities cannot obtain the information they need from car manufacturers in order to reproduce electronic keys."

Auto Club statistics show that its roadside assistance program is unable to help 15 percent of members who need new keys because car owners don't have the information needed to replicate the keys. Another 50 percent of members must endure a long wait and/or high expense while the locksmith has to tear apart a steering column or car door to obtain information needed to replace the key - information that could easily be provided in a secure manner that would allow the locksmith to quickly and less expensively make a new key.

"The Auto Club believes that when a motorist buys a vehicle, he or she also buys everything needed to operate it, including all the information necessary to make a replacement key," Bisno said. "Every auto manufacturer should provide vehicle owners with a secure way to obtain this information whenever owners need to obtain a replacement key."

In addition to the Auto Club, supporters of SB 1542 include more than 20 chambers of commerce throughout Southern California, 17 local public safety agencies, and 15 Southland cities including the city of Los Angeles.

"Greater vehicle security is an asset for consumers, but security improvement should not come at the expense of placing motorists in an unsafe situation or forcing them to pay unnecessarily high prices to obtain replacement keys," Bisno said.