Houston car recall accident lawyers respond: Car dealerships and rental car companies are prohibited under the law from selling you a car that has been recalled. But no law prohibits a U.S. rental car company from renting you a car that has been recalled.

Hertz signed a pledge this summer stating that it wouldn’t rent cars that had been recalled to their customers. But the other three major U.S. rental car companies (Enterprise/National/Alamo, Avis/Budget, and Hertz/Advantage) all refused to sign the pledge.

Our Houston car recall accident lawyers note that after publicity regarding the issue, and an NHTSA investigation into how quickly rental car companies repair recalled vehicles, the other three major companies said they would sign and support the pledge. These three holdout companies had initially said that they wanted other types of companies that transport passengers, such as taxi and limousine companies, to support the pledge as well.

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D, California) and Senator Charles Schumer (D, New York) are sponsoring legislation to ensure that U.S. rental car companies can’t rent you a car that has been recalled. The proposed legislation, called the Rachel and Jacqueline Houck Safe rental Car Act of 2012, is named after two young sisters who had been leased a recalled PT Cruiser in 2004. The rented PT Cruiser began leaking steering fluid, caught fire, and crashed into an oncoming 18-wheeler, tragically killing both girls.

At the moment you can’t be certain that you aren’t leasing a car that’s been recalled. But change may be on the horizon. Stay tuned.

Learn more about what you can do after you or a loved one suffers a tragic accident due to a defect in a recalled vehicle. Download our Houston car recall accident lawyers’ book on your essential steps to a successful recovery of just compensation after a serious Houston accident. It’s free to our readers with a click on this web page.