Schumer decries unsafe rental cars

In light of a recent tragedy in California that claimed the lives of two sisters, Sen. Charles Schumer said he will be introducing legislation that prevents rental car companies from loaning out vehicles subject to recall.

Under current federal law, a rental car company may continue to rent vehicles automobile dealers are not allowed to sell due to safety reasons. Schumer called this a loophole, and attributed it to the deaths of Raechel and Jacquie Houck, sisters from California, who rented a Chrysler PT Cruiser from Enterprise that caught fire as the result of a defect that forced a prior recall.

With his new legislation, termed the Safe Rental Car Act, Schumer said rental car companies would be forced to adhere to the same rules as car dealerships with regard to vehicles subject to recalls.

Automakers have previously told the federal government that rental car companies typically fix less than a third of recalled vehicles within a month of the recall and, over the course of a year, that number climbs to just 50 percent.

Long Island is home to 64 rental car facilities, according to Schumer.