Rental Car Companies Agree Not to Rent Recalled Vehicles
09-28-2012
In a major turn of events, the four major U.S. auto rental companies recently announced their support for federal legislation aimed at barring companies from renting or selling vehicles that are under safety recalls before the problems are fixed.
Up until this point, Hertz was the only major rental car company that had agreed to back such measures. Enterprise Holdings, Avis, Dollar and their subsidiaries had refused to sign a pledge earlier this summer saying they would not rent cars under a recall. This led to public backlash from many consumer safety groups and advocates.
In fact, the mother of two daughters who were killed when the car they rented from Enterprise caught fire and crashed into a tractor trailer in 2004 started a petition on Change.org calling for the company to stop opposing the proposed law. The PT Cruiser they were driving had been recalled a month before for a defective steering component. To date, that petition has 162,299 supporters.
All of the aforementioned companies have now pledged to fix recalled vehicles before renting or selling them even if the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Rental Car Safety Act fails to pass.
It’s great to see that the rental car industry has listened to consumers’ concerns and banded together in this important safety effort.
With the number of consumers hitting the roads for travel purposes increasing each year, it’s of paramount importance to ensure that the vehicles being driven are safe – no matter if they are rented or sold.
How do you think Congress will react to this historic announcement? What do you think persuaded the rental car industry to enter into this agreement? Your thoughts are most welcome below.
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