House lawmakers offer bill to ban rental of recalled vehicles

July 16, 2012

The Ventura County (CA) Star (7/14) reported that US Reps. Lois Capps (D-CA) and Elton Gallegly (R-CA) introduced the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act this week, a measure that “would not allow rental car companies to rent out vehicles on a safety recall before repairs are made and would give the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration oversight of recalled vehicles owned by rental companies.” Enterprise spokeswoman Christy Conrad said the company “supports federal legislation but is asking lawmakers to consider constraints. ‘There are practical considerations — including time needed to review recall notices, identify affected vehicles and alert all branch offices and employees — and we have requested that lawmakers take such reasonable constraints into account,’ Conrad said in an email.”

Hertz offers support for bill. The Hill‘s (7/14, Laing) Transportation Report blog noted Hertz Rent-A-Car on Friday offered support for the House measure. Senior VP for Corporate Affairs and Communications Rich Broome “said his company thought it was important for rental car companies to ensure their vehicles did not have issues identified by federal safety regulators. ‘It’s vital for car rental customers to have confidence that the vehicles they rent are safe to drive,’ Broome said. ‘For that reason, it is longstanding Hertz policy that, without exception, we do not rent cars subject to a safety recall until they have been repaired.'”