US car rental firms agree to recall legislation - Car Rental News
US car rental firms agree to recall legislation
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Car Rental News - 01/10/2012
All of the top North American car hire firms have finally agreed to back a move to ban recalled cars from being rented.
All of the top North American car hire firms have finally agreed to back legislation to prevent recalled vehicles from being rented out.
California senator Barbara Boxer has been pushing the policy on Hertz, Avis Budget, Dollar Thrifty and Enterprise for months, although most have been reluctant to endorse the move.
But reports said at the weekend that the legislation had finally received the nod from the American Car Rental Association and all of the US-based car rental majors.
The law comes in response to a 2004 incident, which saw a recalled issue on a rental car cause a severe accident, killing two sisters that had rented the car for a holiday. Following the ordeal, road safety groups and the victims' mother have pushed to close a loophole that allows rental agencies to hire and sell recalled vehicles despite car dealers being banned from doing so.
The latest version of the bill will require car rental agencies to shelf recalled vehicles within 24 hours of getting any notification from manufacturers, although models that number in excess of 5,000 in a given fleet will have a 48-hour window, according to reports. It bill will also give the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration oversight and authority in the recall process.
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