Massachusetts law about automobiles

Massachusetts laws

MGL c.90 Motor vehicles

MGL c.90B, s.26 Minimum age is 14 to ride an ATV

MGL c.90D Certificate of title

MGL c.93K Right to Repair law

Massachusetts regulations

201 CMR 11 New and used motor vehicle arbitration

540 CMR Registry of Motor Vehicles

940 CMR 5 Motor vehicle consumer regulations

Massachusetts executive orders

Executive Order 572: To Promote the Testing and Deployment of Highly Automated Driving Technologies, October 2016.
Establishes a Special Working Group on Autonomous Vehicles to study and make recommendations for regulation of self-driving vehicles

Web sources

General information

• AAA Digest of Motor Laws. An "online compendium of laws and rules related to driving and owning a motor vehicle in the United States and Canada." Select a topic such as window tinting, seatbelts, registration, and more, and get easy access to the laws for all 50 states.
• Autos and Transportation, Mass. Office of Consumer Affairs. Includes Lemon Laws, Buying and Selling, Auto Repair, Auto Insurance, and more.
• Buying and Owning a Car, Federal Trade Commission. In addition to generic consumer information, includes information on rental car agreements, warranties, and repossession.
• Citizen's Guide to the Removal of Motor Vehicles from Private Property, Nantucket Police Department. Explains the process for private citizens to follow in removing vehicles from their property.

Buying, selling, leasing, and donating

• Buying a Used Car, Mass. Legal Help. Provides a detailed description of the steps involved in buying a used car: what to look for, how to negotiate, elements of a contract, and more.
• Car Smart: A Consumer’s Guide to Buying, Leasing and Repairing a Car in Massachusetts, Massachusetts Consumers’ Coalition, 4th ed. Sept. 2006.
• Donating a Car to Charity, Mass. Attorney General. Provides "tips to consider when deciding whether to donate your car to charity."
• Should You Buy or Lease Your Car?, Mass. Legal Help. Helpful information on deciding if a purchase or lease is best for you.

Lemon laws

• A Dealer's Guide to the Massachusetts Used Vehicle Warranty Law, Mass. Office of Consumer Affairs. Extensive (over 50 page) guide to "ensure that new dealers coming into the marketplace are aware of their obligations under the law." Information is helpful to consumers as well.
• Lemon Law,  Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. Provides basic provisions of the new, leased, used, and failed inspection lemon laws. Information about private party sales, eligibility to receive compensation and applying for arbitration as well as a sample of final opportunity to repair letter.
• Understanding the Bay State's Various Lemon Laws, Kevin V. Maltby, 2009. Does a great job of summarizing the new and leased car lemon law, the used car lemon law, and the lemon aid law.

Limited use and low speed vehicles 

• MGL, c.90, s.1F-1I
  Low Speed Vehicles Law
• Moped? Scooter? Limited Use?  
  Advisory from the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs & Business Regulation that explains the different categories

Recalls

• Automobile Recalls, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
  Provides recall information, including vehicle and equipment campaigns from 1966 to present

Print sources

Automobile Fraud: Odometer Salvage, Lemon Laundering Fraud, Title Abuses and Yo-Yo Sales, 5th ed., NCLC, 2015.

Chapter 93A Rights and Remedies, 3rd ed., MCLE, looseleaf, chapter 9.

The Law of Chapter 93A (Mass. Practice v.52), Thomson/West, 2007 with supplement, section 9.3.

Last updated:	July 11, 2018