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Senators praise rent-a-car companies’ cooperation with recalled auto ban
A group of Senate Democrats said Thursday that the largest U.S. rent-a-car companies have agreed to not rent cars that have been recalled by their manufacturers, even before they pass legislation to prevent them for doing it.
Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) had pressured Hertz, Enterprise, Avis and Dollar Thrifty to abide by the rules of a bill they have not yet passed that would have required car rental agencies to pull recalled cars from their fleets.
Only Hertz agreed originally to take the lawmakers up on their offer, but after a summer of being excoriated by Democrats in the Senate, Boxer, Schumer and McCaskill said Thursday that the rest of the car rental industry had come around.
“This breakthrough was years in the making," Schumer said in a statement of the rent-a-car companies agreeing to the terms of the pending legislation in advance. "It will help take recalled rental cars off the road for good. Consumers will no longer have to worry about what they’re getting when they go to the rental car counter."
"With the industry’s full backing, we think we have a great shot to get this legislation passed before the end of the year,” he said.
Boxer and Schumer said the recalled rentals legislation would make roads safer for their constituents.
“No one obtaining a car from a rental car company should ever have to worry that it’s been recalled," Boxer said in a statement. "This compromise makes clear that vehicles rented or sold by rental car companies must be safe and sound.”
"This agreement has required compromise from stakeholders on all sides, but it’s resulted in a solution that boosts safety for Missouri families without undue burdens for employers in our state,” McCaskill added. “Consumer advocates and industry representatives were able bridge their differences and find common ground here, and that’s what we need more of in politics. I plan to work as hard as I know how to get this agreement enacted into law as soon as possible, because it is the right thing to do for consumer safety, for providing certainty for our employers and for the legacy of two daughters lost in a tragic accident.”
The recalled rental bill, S. 1445, is titled the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act, after the victims of a fatal 2004 accident in California involving a rental car that had been recalled.
Raechel and Jacqueline Houck's mother, Cally, has lobbied alongside Democrats for the legislation to prevent future rentals of recalled cars.
