Last month, a new federal law took effect in the United States that prohibits car rental companies from renting vehicles that have been recalled by their manufacturers until the recall-related repairs are completed. The change stems from years of advocacy by Cally Houck, whose two daughters died in a rental car crash involving a vehicle with an outstanding recall. Raechel and Jacqueline Houck were 24 and 20 when the Chrysler PT Cruiser they were driving — rented from Enterprise — began leaking power steering fluid, caught fire, and then collided with a tractor-trailer in 2004.
Investigators later determined the PT Cruiser had an open recall for a defect that could cause fires, and the required remedy had not been performed on that particular vehicle. That finding galvanized Houck’s campaign for stronger protections for consumers renting vehicles. “I’m proud of our efforts, I’m so grateful for the help of consumer advocates who rallied behind this,” Houck said in an interview with ABC News. “We all worked together and we didn’t give up. We remained firm and committed.”
The prohibition on renting unrepaired recalled vehicles was included in the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act of 2015 and was signed into law by President Barack Obama. The statute aims to prevent tragedies like the Houck family’s by ensuring rental fleets are up to date on safety repairs. The law does include a limited exemption for very small rental businesses that operate 35 vehicles or fewer.
For Houck, the law marks a significant victory but not the end of the effort. “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.” Her ongoing advocacy highlights the broader issue of corporate accountability and the need for consistent application of safety recalls to protect consumers.
