Petition against Enterprise to ban Renting Recalled Cars
Enterprise Holdings is the largest car hire company in the US and allows vehicles under federal safety recalls to be rented before they are repaired. This astonishing news has been revealed by consumer advocates in a petition to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to ban the practice.
In a lawsuit, Enterprise said that employees are allowed to hire cars that have been recalled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, according to the Center for Auto Safety and Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety. The groups have called the practice deceptive.
Center for Auto Safety executive director Clarence Ditlow said in a statement that only the FTC can enforce action that will halt Enterprise from allowing consumers to hire unsafe cars. This will send a message to all car rental firms that recalled vehicles should remain parked until fixed, he added.
Enterprise spokeswoman Laura Bryant said that, in most recalls and service bulletins posted by auto manufacturers, which affect millions of cars every year, it isn’t required that consumers stop driving the vehicles immediately. The company is also improving how fast they identify cars with safety defects, she noted.
This comes as the consumer advocates were joined by Carol Houck for the petition. She is the mother of 2 daughters that were killed in 2004 in a crash that involved an Enterprise-rented Chrysler PT Cruiser that caught on fire. The family was awarded US$15 million in June after suing the company.
Bryant said that, given what they have learned, they wouldn’t have rented the car to the Houck girls today until it was fixed. They share the goal of preventing similar events from happening again, she added.
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