Your rental car may have been recalled, never fixed
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When you rent a car you should not have to worry if it's safe to drive. But unfortunately, you do.
Federal law does not prohibit a rental car company from putting you behind the wheel of a car or truck that's subject to a safety recall, but has not been fixed.
"What they're doing now is playing 'rental car roulette' with people's lives," said Rosemary Shahan, president of Consumers for Automobile Reliability and Safety.
Shanan says it's just common sense that if the vehicle is under a safety recall, it should not be rented until it's fixed.
"You know, we're talking about cars that have bad brakes or bad steering or the air bags don't work. They catch fire. These are serious threats to not only the people who are in them but others who share the road," she said.
David Butler of Consumers Union, the policy division of Consumer Reports, says rental car customers are really "at the mercy" of the rental car company.
"We have seen isolated incidents where people have rented a car that's been recalled, it hasn't been fixed and there have been real problems, accidents and even in a few isolated cases, deaths," said Butler.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. want to change the law. Last year, the two Democrats introduced the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act, which would prohibit rental car companies from renting or selling cars that are under a safety recall until they are repaired.
The bill is named after two sisters from Santa Cruz, Calif.
Raechel and Jacqueline died in a fiery crash in 2004 while driving an Enterprise Rental car that needed to be repaired for a possible fire hazard -- but wasn't.
Their mother, Cally Houck, told me what happened that terrible day.
"They were driving up the 101 outside of Bradley, California. The car caught fire. Raechel lost her ability to steer and control the vehicle. The car filled with smoke and she crossed the median and slammed head-on into an 18-wheeler," she said.
After the accident, the sisters' mother successfully sued Enterprise and has been working to change industry practice ever since.
Consumer advocates hope the Safe Rental Car Act will get some traction.
In the meantime, Boxer hopes to get the industry to agree voluntarily to change its policy on recalled vehicles before the busy summer rental car season.
Three weeks ago, she sent a letter to the chief executives of the major rental car companies asking them to take the following pledge:
"Effective immediately, our company is making a permanent commitment to not rent or sell any vehicles under safety recall until the defect has been remedied."
Today, at a Capitol Hill news conference, Boxer said only Hertz has agreed to the pledge as written. The other companies - Enterprise, Avis and Dollar/Thrifty - have not agreed to the pledge in its entirety and without condition.
Enterprise says it's already changed its policies, but it would not commit to the unqualified and permanent guarantee required by Boxer's pledge.
Enterprise would not talk to me about any of this, but in a recent letter to Boxer, CEO Andrew Taylor said in the eight years since the Houck sisters were killed, the industry has greatly improved its response to safety recalls.
Taylor said current Enterprise policy prohibits the rental of any vehicle that is subject to a safety recall until the recall is remedied. Therefore, he wrote, "No one need have any concern about the safety of the vehicles we rent."
More information:
Lawmakers fight to end 'rental car roulette' danger
Federal law does not prohibit a rental car company from putting you behind the wheel of a car or truck that's subject to a safety recall, but has not been fixed.
"What they're doing now is playing 'rental car roulette' with people's lives," said Rosemary Shahan, president of Consumers for Automobile Reliability and Safety.
Shanan says it's just common sense that if the vehicle is under a safety recall, it should not be rented until it's fixed.
"You know, we're talking about cars that have bad brakes or bad steering or the air bags don't work. They catch fire. These are serious threats to not only the people who are in them but others who share the road," she said.
David Butler of Consumers Union, the policy division of Consumer Reports, says rental car customers are really "at the mercy" of the rental car company.
"We have seen isolated incidents where people have rented a car that's been recalled, it hasn't been fixed and there have been real problems, accidents and even in a few isolated cases, deaths," said Butler.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. want to change the law. Last year, the two Democrats introduced the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act, which would prohibit rental car companies from renting or selling cars that are under a safety recall until they are repaired.
The bill is named after two sisters from Santa Cruz, Calif.
Raechel and Jacqueline died in a fiery crash in 2004 while driving an Enterprise Rental car that needed to be repaired for a possible fire hazard -- but wasn't.
Their mother, Cally Houck, told me what happened that terrible day.
"They were driving up the 101 outside of Bradley, California. The car caught fire. Raechel lost her ability to steer and control the vehicle. The car filled with smoke and she crossed the median and slammed head-on into an 18-wheeler," she said.
After the accident, the sisters' mother successfully sued Enterprise and has been working to change industry practice ever since.
Consumer advocates hope the Safe Rental Car Act will get some traction.
In the meantime, Boxer hopes to get the industry to agree voluntarily to change its policy on recalled vehicles before the busy summer rental car season.
Three weeks ago, she sent a letter to the chief executives of the major rental car companies asking them to take the following pledge:
"Effective immediately, our company is making a permanent commitment to not rent or sell any vehicles under safety recall until the defect has been remedied."
Today, at a Capitol Hill news conference, Boxer said only Hertz has agreed to the pledge as written. The other companies - Enterprise, Avis and Dollar/Thrifty - have not agreed to the pledge in its entirety and without condition.
Enterprise says it's already changed its policies, but it would not commit to the unqualified and permanent guarantee required by Boxer's pledge.
Enterprise would not talk to me about any of this, but in a recent letter to Boxer, CEO Andrew Taylor said in the eight years since the Houck sisters were killed, the industry has greatly improved its response to safety recalls.
Taylor said current Enterprise policy prohibits the rental of any vehicle that is subject to a safety recall until the recall is remedied. Therefore, he wrote, "No one need have any concern about the safety of the vehicles we rent."
More information:
Lawmakers fight to end 'rental car roulette' danger
