This California Lemon Law had been given the right impetus by a mother who testified that such a rule could have saved the lives of her two daughters. According to the mother of the victims Carol Houck, the PT Cruiser her daughters were killed in was rented out three times after the rental company received the recall notice.
Enterprise is the largest car rental company in the US, with $12 billion in annual revenue and 1.1 million vehicles in its fleet. It includes the Alamo, Enterprise and National brands. The Houck sisters, Rachel, 24, and Jacqueline, 20 were killed in 2004 when the steering on a Chrysler PT Cruiser rented from Enterprise failed, in central California. The car crashed into a truck and caught fire. The company had received a recall notice for the vehicle about a month earlier.
According to the investigators hired by the Houck family:
- The power steering fluid line that was the subject of the recall leaked
- This leak, in turn caused the steering to fail
Enterprise fought a wrongful death case brought by the family for five years before admitting negligence. A jury awarded the parents $15 million.
Auto dealers are not allowed to sell or lease cars that have been recalled and this bill should be able close a loophole that allows rental car companies to continue to sell or lease recalled cars.
However, representatives of several rental car companies claim that
- They repair 90 percent of vehicles within 30 days of receiving recall notices
- They are very particular with their safety policies as such it deems such bills unwarranted
- Adopting such a law in California could prompt other States to do the same
- If other States are to follow suit, a patchwork of laws is created that would be difficult for them to follow
- The bill is targeting only their industry unfairly
- The bill is ignoring other vehicle fleets, such as those operated by taxi, limousine and shuttle bus services
- The bill is ignoring other vehicle fleets, such as those operated by private companies and governments
Consumers should be aware of the recall status of the cars they rent. They must ascertain that the cars they rent are safe.
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