Many Mississippi residents are traveling for Spring Break or looking forward to visiting relatives for Easter. If you are traveling by plane, there is a fair chance you will need to rent a car when you arrive at your destination. Most motorists have no idea that many vehicles are kept in circulation for rental despite the vehicle or components of the vehicle being subject to a safety recall. This is much more than a theoretical problem; for example, Enterprise settled a case for $15 million stemming from a horrific collision that resulted in the death of two sisters that was caused by a defective component in their rented Chrysler PT Cruiser.
The PT Cruiser in the Enterprise case had been recalled because of a defective component that posed a fire hazard. The mother of sisters, Jacqueline Houck and Rachel Houck, filed a wrongful death action after the women died when the power steering failed because the vehicle caught on fire. The failure of the PT Cruiser’s power steering resulted in the plaintiff losing control of the vehicle and colliding head on with a commercial truck.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has acknowledged issues with rental cars that are made available to the public despite the vehicles being recalled for safety issues. Although there is currently discussion about legislation to prevent recalled vehicles from being rented to unsuspecting customers, no legislation has yet been enacted. While car manufacturers and new car dealers cannot sell vehicles to consumers until recalled components have been repaired, there currently is no similar requirement for rental car companies.
Legislation being discussed might extend federal oversight of the NHTSA to the rental car industry and require the repair of vehicles subject to recall before they are made available to rental car customers. The frightening thing for consumers is that rental car agencies do not disclose that the vehicle a customer is about to rent is the subject of a safety recall. This means that rental car agencies are knowingly exposing consumers to a known risk without warning consumers of this risk.
If you need a rental car during Spring Break or over Easter weekend, you should specifically ask the rental car agency if the vehicle you are being assigned is the subject of any recalls and whether the defect has been repaired. Barrett Law has been representing those injured in Mississippi car accidents for decades. If you or someone you love is injured in a Mississippi car accident involving a rental car that has unrepaired defects or any defective vehicle, the experienced product liability car accident attorneys at Barrett Law may be able to represent you in seeking compensation for your injuries or loss.
At the Barrett Law Offices PLLC, our experienced Mississippi personal injury lawyers represent personal injury victims throughout Mississippi. Our law firm has roots that reach back 75 years so contact us today for your free initial consultation at (662) 834-2376 to see how we can help.