Schatz, Local and National Advocates Urge Protections for Rental Car Customers
Calling for Legislators to Support Bill That Will Keep Defective Vehicles Off the Road
Washington, DC—Today, Senator Brian Schatz joined local and national advocates, as well as Senators Schumer, McCaskill, and Boxer, calling for passage of the The Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act of 2013 (S. 921).
Named after two sisters who were killed driving a rental car that had been recalled, this is a commonsense bill that bans rental car companies from renting or selling vehicles that are under manufacture recall. This legislation has gained support from all the major car rental companies – Hertz, Enterprise, Avis Budget, Dollar Thrifty, and National – as well as the American Car Rental Association. Senator Schatz joins Senators Blumenthal, Boxer, Casey, Feinstein, Gillibrand, McCaskill, and Murkowki as co-sponsors to this bill, introduced by Senator Schumer. Today, the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Insurance held a hearing to discuss this legislation.
“The Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act promotes commonsense consumer protections that will guard the nearly 10 million people who visit Hawai’i each year, many of which choose to rent cars,” said Senator Schatz, a member of the Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Insurance. “What happened to Raechel and Jacqueline Houck was a tragedy, and this is why Congress must put in place measures so that we can prevent something like this from happening.”
Honolulu attorney and consumer advocate Jeff Crabtree, commended Senator Schatz for supporting the proposed law: “In Hawai‘i, we have a lot of rental cars on our roads. Some of them have serious safety defects. Senator Schatz gets it—his support for this bill helps the effort to keep rental cars with safety problems off of Hawai‘i's streets, making our community safer for both residents and tourists. It’s great that Senator Schatz was appointed to this consumer protection committee, and that he is stepping up to help Hawai‘i consumers."
“We are thrilled that Senator Schatz is co-sponsoring The Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act,” said Rosemary Shahan, President of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety. “His leadership is particularly important given Hawai‘i’s expanding tourism industry. We look forward to working with him to make this legislation a reality.”
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