Houck In D.C. To Push Rental Car Safety
SB-1445 seeking bipartisan support
By Misty Volaski
The battle for rental car safety legislation on Capitol Hill is heating up, but Ojai’s Houck family is “not going to be deterred,” said matriarch Cally. “We’ve got a very committed coalition and the support of some top lawmakers — (Barbara) Boxer, (Charles) Schumer, (Dianne) Feinstein, (Richard) Blumenthal, (Kirsten) Gillibrand. This is my top priority. There is nothing more honorable than to continue to participate” in getting Senate Bill 1445 passed. “It’s not a matter of ‘if,’ it’s ‘when.”
Houck has good reason to be so passionate about getting recalled — but unfixed — rental cars off the road. Her two daughters, former Nordhoff High School students Jackie and Raechel, were killed in 2004 in a firey car accident when they lost control of their rented PT Cruiser. The vehicle had a safety recall, but no repairs had been made; an under-hood fire caused Raechel to lose control, and the girls were killed when they slammed head-on into a semi truck. After five years of litigation against Enterprise Rent-A-Car, a jury found in favor of the Houcks, awarding them $15 million.
But for Cally, that was not justice for her girls; the only thing that can bring justice, she says, is to get legislation enacted which would force rental car companies to abide by the same recall laws that manufacturers must follow.
A California bill has already been introduced, and currently, New York Senator Schumer and others are working at the federal level to get SB-1445 attached to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s reauthorization bill.
After Thanksgiving, for the first time, Cally brought along Raechel and Jackie’s younger brother, Greg, with her to Washington D.C. to help promote the bill and gain bipartisan support. Thanks to advocate Pamela Gilbert, a well-respected lawyer and former board member at the Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety group, the Houcks got access to the staffers of some key legislators. “It’s very difficult to get in to see even a low staffer,” said Houck. “Pamela opened doors for us.” Greg and Cally spoke with staffers in the offices of Arizona Sen. John McCain, Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, as well as Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, among others. Kerry’s staffer, Houck said, indicated that “He was going to take this directly to John Kerry. We felt we were very well received” by all the staffers they met,” she added.
Currently, the bill is in a committee, but the Houcks hope a vote will come soon to move it one step closer to law. “It’s much easier to get it attached to a bill that has bipartisan support (like the reauthorization bill),” said Houck, “but we’re willing to do whatever it takes.”
Rosemary Shahan, president of C.A.R.S. and a staunch advocate of the Houcks’ crusade, said, “Cally (met) with staff on both sides of the aisle, and she debunked a lot of misinformation. We’re rebutting what the industry is putting out. It’s really absurd stuff, pretty outrageous.”
Needless to say, the rental car companies are putting up a fight against industry regulation. Huge sums of money are at stake. “We knew they would (fight hard), going in,” said Houck. Still, she remains confident that the bill will eventually pass. After all, as several consumer safety activists have pointed out to Houck, “It took 10 years to get the airbag law passed.”
While the industry claims that pulling all vehicles with safety recalls from their fleet would be a financial burden, Houck points out that profits run into the billions of dollars for the privately-held Enterprise corporation alone. It’s not about getting back at them, she said, it’s about keeping the consumer safe. Houck explained, “Companies that put dangerous products into hands of consumers — bad food, cribs that are dangerous for infants — those companies have to take the products out of the hands of consumers. So, why are the rental car companies exempt from that? Why are they exempt from consumer protection laws?”
Shahan pointed out that she’s seen lots of contradictions from the rental car industry in D.C. “They contradict themselves all the time,” she said. “On one hand, they say they don’t need regulation because they’re already taking care of the problem. But 10 to 20 percent (of the safety recalled vehicles) even after 60 days still haven’t been fixed by their own admission. Then on the other hand, they’re saying they don’t want to ground these cars right away, that they want to have a committee to decide whether it’s unsafe enough to justify grounding them. But this is a simple idea — whenever a dealer has to ground a car because it’s so unsafe that they can’t sell it, then a rental car company shouldn’t be able to rent or sell it either.”
“It’s common sense,” Houck said. “The reaction from both sides of the aisle has been that this makes complete sense. But they said that just because it makes sense doesn’t mean it’s do-able; there’s another factor called politics. But we’re just going to move forward.”
Her son Greg, a budding songwriter, was inspired after his D.C. trip to write a song about his experiences in D.C. An excerpt follows:
“Let me tell you about rental car safety protocols
It’s a fact that there’s no protocol at all
I’m on Capitol Hill, trying to work on a bill
But the rental car companies are fighting us still …
Recalled cars rented out to us
Without us knowing, stopping it is a must
Houck Senate Bill 1445 or bust!
So then once again we can gain the trust.
Some corporations corrupt the world
A recalled car rented out is how I lost my girls.
There is no law, to stop it at all
So I’m on Capitol Hill, fighting for the cause.”
I hope the law becomes similar to school, youth and public bus safety laws with mandatory periodic inspections, yet clearly this company can’t be relied upon to do these themselves.
CHP should be able to randomly physically inspect and must impound ALL vehicles if a single safety violation is found or a single recall item hasn’t been repaired.
This should NEVER have happened!
Which Enterprise did the girls rent the car from?
Insurance companies send you to Enterprise for a car when you’re car’s been in a collision & have rental coverage.
Scary.
I rented 2 different vehicles, both from Enterprise, with visibility problems, one lead to thankfully only a minor accident. Another time my brother & I rented a car that shortly after had a flat tire. The tow truck driver pointed out that all 4 tires were bald & after the “roadside assistance” office from the rental company, who was closed, griped, yet eventually got someone out of bed to replace the vehicle (this was late at night & they were not open.)
I never knew rental car companies were allowed to rent such vehicles. You would like to think you’d be safe in a vehicle you rent.
Sad they’d be allowed to drag this out for 5 years, and worse, blame the victims.
I hope someone was held responsible for at least manslaughter on top of this judgement. The fact that this was the “status quo” of this company, and the relatively small amount they make vs. the amount that was awarded is simply wrong. This company should have been put out of business to protect the public, and all their cars fixed then sold at auction.
Outrageous.
UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT CREATED BY CUNEO GILBERT AND LADUCA –
Boxer Statement on Rental Car Amendment
Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Executive Session #8 – December 14, 2011
Senator Barbara Boxer:
I want to say, I’ve cut this back to one and a half minutes, but I want to say a few words about my amendment to prohibit rental car companies from renting vehicles that are under a safety recall, until the defects have been remedied. The importance of this amendment can be made clear by a horrible accident that occurred in 2004. Two Santa Cruz sisters, aged 24 and 20, were killed in a PT Cruiser they had rented from Enterprise.
A full month before, Enterprise had received a recall notice from Chrysler, warning of a serious safety problem with the power steering fluid, but they did nothing. As the girls were driving, the power steering fluid leaked and ignited under the dashboard causing them to lose control. The girls drove into a Semi. The tractor-trailer exploded in flames, killing these young girls. The parents lost both of their beautiful daughters in one day. Now, last year, Enterprise settled with the girls’ family for 15 million dollars, but this was a drop in the bucket for them, 1/10 of 1% of the 14 billion in profits they took that year. We can’t allow this to happen. Chuck Schumer wrote a very important bill on this. For some reason there are problems in this committee. Out of respect for this committee I want to enter into a colloquy with you, Mr. Chairman, and then I will not offer this amendment.
I just want to close this by telling you what a whistleblower said about Enterprise. A former Enterprise manager in San Francisco testified in a deposition, this is what he said: “When demand called, we rented out recalled vehicles. If all you have on the lot are recalled vehicles, you rent them out … It was a given. The whole company did it. Enterprise’s corporate offices looked the other way regarding this fact.“
This is an absolute disgrace. But In deference to people who have problems with this … I don’t get why … I’m willing to hold off. So I would just like to ask you, Mr. Chairman, if you will work with me to ensure that when we do get to the floor you will give me your commitment that this amendment will be part of any agreement to consider this bill.
CHAIRMAN: I so agree.
BOXER: I thank you very much and I pledge to work with everyone on this because this, for me, is a no-brainer and I hope we can resolve it. I withdraw the amendment.
Now if congress will also listen to the experts at the NTSB and institute a nation-wide ban on ALL electronic device usage while driving in a vehicle…
Thank you so much for covering this vitally important auto safety issue. Especially with the holidays coming up, millions of families will be renting cars, and they all deserve to have cars that are safe.
Not ones the rental car company knows are unsafe, but hasn’t bothered to fix yet.
Blessings and deep gratitude to the Houcks for their amazing dedication and hard work to improve rental car safety for the sake of others.
Wow! Such a powerful nessage – Let’s hope the ones in charge listen, for once.
Entire Version of Greg Houck’s Lyrics:
Let me tell you about rental car safety protocols
It’s a fact that there’s no protocol at all
I’m on Capitol Hill, trying to work on a bill
But the rental car companies are fighting us still.
Let’s take it back to the start of the fight
Where rent-a-car consumer risks just ain’t right
Renting and selling millions of recalled cars
But this time they’ve taken it way too far.
Discussing with leaders, trying to make a law
To ground all the vehicles on recall
Take it to the ‘ship, to go get them fixed
For the safety and well-being of your kids.
I lost some family, a tragic event
And the corporations have got hundreds of millions they’ve spent
Tryin’ to prove me wrong, litigation five years long
For renting dangerous vehicles on and on.
If it’s a recalled car, they just don’t care
They take the notice rip it up and throw it in the air
There is no law, to prevent these lies
So let’s take it to D.C., and get words from the wise.
To regulate recall cars?, there is no one
But what about my sister who never turned 21?
We need a policy, to stop dangerous greed
So children and people, can plant new seeds.
The U.S.A. over populate
That’s why we need protections, from state to state.
Recalled cars rented out to us
Without us knowing, stopping it is a must
Houck senate bill 1445 or bust!
So then once again we can gain the trust.
Some corporations, corrupt the world
A recalled car rented out is how I lost my girls.
There is no law, to stop it at all
So I’m on Capitol Hill, fighting for the cause.
Raechel and Jacqueline rental car act,
Will save lives and make rentals more safe that’s a fact.
I’m on Capitol Hill, trying to work on a bill,
But rental car companies are fighting us still.