FAST Act Requires Rental Car Companies To Fix Known Safety Defects
While dealers selling new cars are prohibited from selling vehicles with known defects, rental companies are not legally mandated to do the same. Until now. Part of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act of 2015 requires rental car agencies with fleets over 35 vehicles to fix any and all open safety defects. The FAST act became effective June 1, 2016.
“When a family picks up a rental car on vacation, they should be able to expect it is free of any known safety defect,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “I thank Congress and the safety advocates who helped turn this common-sense idea into law.”
The FAST act also gives the NHTSA authority over rental companies, allowing them to investigate and punish violators.
“This law gives NHTSA one more tool to protect the safety of U.S. motorists,” said NHTSA Administrator Dr. Mark Rosekind. “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.”
The FAST act was championed by the family of Raechel and Jacqueline Houck, sisters who died in an Enterprise rental vehicle under a safety recall but that had not been repaired. After the crash, the Houck family sued Enterprise. After a long legal battle, Enterprise eventually admitted negligence and paid the family $15 million in damages.
Cally Houck, mother of the late Raechel and Jacqueline, has fought for this kind of legislation for years. In 2013, Houck testified on Capitol Hill in support of the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act, an early version of the FAST act. She will continue to advocate for automotive safety.
"I feel we've won a huge battle, but we haven't quite won the war," she told ABC News. "And the war is for corporations to take responsibility in any kind of situation where you have a recalled product and that recalled product causes injury."
The FAST act is beginning to be enforced in the mist of the largest recall in history. The NHTSA recommends checking for recalls twice a year. Check out their recall lookup here.
