Rental car recall law now effective
Wednesday, 03 Jun, 2016
0
Rental car agencies are banned from offering vehicles that have been officially recalled due to defects under a new federal law that took effect Wednesday.
Surprisingly, there was no law requiring car rental firms to fix all open safety defects prior to returning a car to its fleet.
Safe Rental Car Act was passed as part of the Highway Bill and requires all companies with more than 35 vehicles to complete repairs before renting out vehicles to customers.
"When a family picks up a rental car on vacation, they should be able to expect it is free of any known safety defect. I thank Congress and the safety advocates who helped turn this common-sense idea into law," said US secretary of transportation Anthony Foxx.
The legislation came about thanks to lobbying by the family of sisters Raechel and Jacqueline Houck which died in an accident driving a rental car that had been under a safety recall but not repaired.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said there were nearly 900 recalls affecting more than 50 million vehicles in 2004.
"It’s critical that every recalled vehicle, whether new, used, rented, or leased, is repaired as soon as possible. Rental agencies operate some of the largest fleets, so this law will go a long way in ensuring the cars and trucks on the road are safe," said NHTSA administrator Mark Rosekind.
Large rental firms like Enterprise, Hertz and Avis Budget had already changed policy to comply with the law before it went into effect, according to Sharon Faulkner, executive director of the American Car Rental Association.
However many smaller independents had not, she said, even those the cost of repairs is the responsibility of the automakers in most cases.
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Clearing CSS/JS assets' cache... Please wait until this notice disappears...
Updating... Please wait...
Phocuswright reveals the world's largest travel markets in volume in 2025
Cyclone in Sri Lanka had limited effect on tourism in contrary to media reports
Higher departure tax and visa cost, e-arrival card: Japan unleashes the fiscal weapon against tourists
Singapore to forbid entry to undesirable travelers with new no-boarding directive
Euromonitor International unveils world’s top 100 city destinations for 2025