U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York will be introducing a new law that will prohibit rental car companies from renting out vehicles that have open recalls on them, or ones that have recalls that are not fixed.
"Rental car agencies appear more interested in reaping profit by keeping recalled vehicles on the road then they do with ensuring the safety of the individuals and families who are driving their cars," Schumer said.
There is already a law for car dealerships that lease cars for a long term period of time, so the Senator feels that the car rental companies should be held to the same standard. Currently, there is nothing in place to make car rental companies to fix their cars beyond the state's inspection laws.
Thousands of accidents and hundreds of deaths each year are blamed on faulty safety equipment in a rental car. Schumer feels these accidents are preventable and 100% unacceptable, since those cars shouldn't be on the road with major safety issues.
The car rental association has asked the law to take out cars that are for serious safety issues but they want to allow other recalls to be allowed on the road if they are not major safety issues. Schumer feels as though this is a double standard and a very vague way of describing what is or isn't a safety issue. That is why he wants strict language in the law that says if there is a recall, it can't be driven. That way, there would be no confusion whatsoever.
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