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2015 Corvette: Not Legal In All 50 States? | DrivingSales News

2015 Corvette: Not Legal In All 50 States?

September 29, 2014 0 Comments

The 2015 Chevrolet Corvette has a safety system called Valet Mode. It was created as a way to protect Corvette drivers from the hazards associated with parking attendants and gives them a medium by which they can record performance data. When the corvette is switched into this mode, the audio system and touch screen are disabled, all storage compartments are locked and a dash cam records both video and audio. The trouble arises with recording audio, which isn’t legal without consent in some states.

Consent is required for audio recording in California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington State. In all 50 states, however, there are various laws regarding hidden cameras. The potential for civil lawsuits and their varied penalties is also worth taking into consideration. The question is why didn’t someone think of this before now? How is GM going to deal with this issue? In this case, they chose the old fashioned way, and sent out letters.

On “Corvetteforum.com,” a letter was posted that GM reportedly sent to a dealership service department. In the letter, GM warned against the illicit use of the Performance Data Recorder (PDR.) Part of the letter reads: “To help our customers use the Performance Data Recorder consistent with legal requirements that pertain to audio recording devices, we will be requiring a very important update to the system of each affected vehicle in the near future…In the meantime, you must advise any customers who take delivery of an impacted vehicle that they should refrain from using the Valet Mode until the update takes place. If they do use the Valet Mode, they should notify any occupants of the vehicle that they will be recorded while in the vehicle, an obtain their consent to this recording.”

That letter was supposedly sent to a service department with more letters on the way to consumers who have the latest Vette. The question remains, how did this slip past design teams at GM? The system was designed by Cosworth and meant to record driving experiences using the dash cam. Where did this project go wrong to the point that it wasn’t stopped pre-production to fix this legal problem? How will dealers communicate with customers who may be upset about having to deal with this issue? That answer is coming right away as these letters are currently on their way from GM. One can only assume that when Corvette owners get the update notice from the factory, they will call their local dealership for more information.

About the Author:

The DrivingSales News team is dedicated to breaking the relevant and the tough stories affecting car dealers. Have questions for DrivingSales News? Reach the team at news@drivingsales.com.

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