Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act of 2014 - Authorizes a rental company that receives a notification (approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [NHTSA]) from the manufacturer of a covered rental vehicle about any equipment defect, or noncompliance with federal motor vehicle safety standards, to rent or sell the vehicle or equipment only if the defect or noncompliance is remedied.
Specifies any rental vehicle: (1) rated at 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight or less, (2) rented without a driver for an initial term of under 4 months, and (3) that is part of a motor vehicle fleet of 5 or more motor vehicles used for rental purposes by a rental company.
Prescribes a special rule to require rental companies to comply with specified limitations on sale, lease, or rental of a motor vehicle as soon as practicable, but within 24 hours after the earliest receipt of the manufacturer's notification of a defect or noncompliance with vehicle safety standards, whether by electronic means or first class mail. Extends the 24-hour deadline for complying with such limitations to 48 hours if the notification covers more than 5,000 motor vehicles in the rental company's fleet.
Permits a rental company to rent (but not sell or lease) a motor vehicle subject to recall if the defect or noncompliance remedy is not immediately available and the company takes any actions specified in the notice to alter the vehicle temporarily to eliminate the safety risk posed.
Makes these special rules for rental companies inapplicable to junk automobiles.
Prohibits a rental company from knowingly making inoperable any safety devices or elements of design installed on or in a compliant motor vehicle or vehicle equipment unless the company reasonably believes the vehicle or equipment will not be used when the devices or elements are inoperable.
Authorizes the Secretary, upon request, to inspect records of a rental company with respect to a safety investigation. Authorizes the Secretary to require a rental company to keep records or make reports for purposes of compliance with federal motor vehicle safety orders or regulations.
Authorizes the Secretary to study the effectiveness of the amendments made by this Act and of other activities of rental companies.
Amends the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) to require the mandatory study of the safety of rental trucks during a specified seven-year period to evaluate the completion of safety recall remedies on rental trucks.
Directs the Secretary to solicit comments regarding the implementation of this Act from members of the public, including rental companies, consumer organizations, automobile manufacturers, and automobile dealers.
Declares that nothing in this Act shall: (1) be construed to create or increase any liability for a manufacturer who manufactures or imports a motor vehicle that is subject to defect or noncompliance recall requirements; or (2) supersede or otherwise affect the contractual obligations, if any, between such manufacturer and a rental company.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2819 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2819
To amend chapter 301 of title 49, United States Code, to prohibit the
rental of motor vehicles that contain a defect related to motor vehicle
safety, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 16, 2014
Mr. Schumer (for himself, Mrs. Boxer, Mrs. McCaskill, Mr. Blumenthal,
Mrs. Feinstein, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Casey, and Mr. Markey) introduced
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend chapter 301 of title 49, United States Code, to prohibit the
rental of motor vehicles that contain a defect related to motor vehicle
safety, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe
Rental Car Act of 2014''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
Section 30102(a) of title 49, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (10) and (11) as paragraphs
(12) and (13), respectively;
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (9) as
paragraphs (2) through (10), respectively;
(3) by inserting before paragraph (2), as redesignated, the
following:
``(1) `covered rental vehicle' means a motor vehicle that--
``(A) has a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000
pounds or less;
``(B) is rented without a driver for an initial
term of less than 4 months; and
``(C) is part of a motor vehicle fleet of 5 or more
motor vehicles that are used for rental purposes by a
rental company.''; and
(4) by inserting after paragraph (10), as redesignated, the
following:
``(11) `rental company' means a person who--
``(A) is engaged in the business of renting covered
rental vehicles; and
``(B) uses for rental purposes a motor vehicle
fleet of 5 or more covered rental vehicles.''.
SEC. 3. REMEDIES FOR DEFECTS AND NONCOMPLIANCE.
Section 30120(i) of title 49, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in the subsection heading, by adding ``, or Rental'' at
the end;
(2) in paragraph (1)--
(A) by striking ``(1) If notification'' and
inserting the following:
``(1) In general.--If notification'';
(B) by indenting subparagraphs (A) and (B) four ems
from the left margin;
(C) by inserting ``or the manufacturer has provided
to a rental company notification about a covered rental
vehicle in the company's possession at the time of
notification'' after ``time of notification'';
(D) by striking ``the dealer may sell or lease,''
and inserting ``the dealer or rental company may sell,
lease, or rent''; and
(E) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``sale or
lease'' and inserting ``sale, lease, or rental
agreement'';
(3) by amending paragraph (2) to read as follows:
``(2) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this subsection may
be construed to prohibit a dealer or rental company from
offering the vehicle or equipment for sale, lease, or rent.'';
and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Specific rules for rental companies.--
``(A) In general.--Except as otherwise provided
under this paragraph, a rental company shall comply
with the limitations on sale, lease, or rental set
forth in subparagraph (C) and paragraph (1) as soon as
practicable, but not later than 24 hours after the
earliest receipt of the notice to owner under
subsection (b) or (c) of section 30118 (including the
vehicle identification number for the covered vehicle)
by the rental company, whether by electronic means or
first class mail.
``(B) Special rule for large vehicle fleets.--
Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), if a rental company
receives a notice to owner covering more than 5,000
motor vehicles in its fleet, the rental company shall
comply with the limitations on sale, lease, or rental
set forth in subparagraph (C) and paragraph (1) as soon
as practicable, but not later than 48 hours after the
earliest receipt of the notice to owner under
subsection (b) or (c) of section 30118 (including the
vehicle identification number for the covered vehicle)
by the rental company, whether by electronic means or
first class mail.
``(C) Special rule for when remedies not
immediately available.--If a notification required
under subsection (b) or (c) of section 30118 indicates
that the remedy for the defect or noncompliance is not
immediately available and specifies actions to
temporarily alter the vehicle that eliminate the safety
risk posed by the defect or noncompliance, the rental
company, after causing the specified actions to be
performed, may rent (but may not sell or lease) the
motor vehicle. Once the remedy for the rental vehicle
becomes available to the rental company, the rental
company may not rent the vehicle until the vehicle has
been remedied, as provided in subsection (a).
``(D) Inapplicability to junk automobiles.--
Notwithstanding paragraph (1), this subsection does not
prohibit a rental company from selling a covered rental
vehicle if such vehicle--
``(i) meets the definition of a junk
automobile under section 201 of the Anti-Car
Theft Act of 1992 (49 U.S.C. 30501);
``(ii) is retitled as a junk automobile
pursuant to applicable State law; and
``(iii) is reported to the National Motor
Vehicle Information System, if required under
section 204 of such Act (49 U.S.C. 30504).''.
SEC. 4. MAKING SAFETY DEVICES AND ELEMENTS INOPERATIVE.
Section 30122(b) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by
inserting ``rental company,'' after ``dealer,'' each place such term
appears.
SEC. 5. INSPECTIONS, INVESTIGATIONS, AND RECORDS.
Section 30166 of title 49, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (c)(2), by striking ``or dealer'' each
place such term appears and inserting ``dealer, or rental
company'';
(2) in subsection (e), by striking ``or dealer'' each place
such term appears and inserting ``dealer, or rental company'';
and
(3) in subsection (f), by striking ``or to owners'' and
inserting ``, rental companies, or other owners''.
SEC. 6. RESEARCH AUTHORITY.
The Secretary of Transportation may conduct a study of--
(1) the effectiveness of the amendments made by this Act;
and
(2) other activities of rental companies (as defined in
section 30102(a)(11) of title 49, United States Code) related
to their use and disposition of motor vehicles that are the
subject of a notification required under section 30118 of title
49, United States Code.
SEC. 7. STUDY.
(a) Additional Requirement.--Subsection (b)(2) of section 32206 of
the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (Public Law 112-
141; 126 Stat. 785) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (E), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as subparagraph (G);
and
(3) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the following:
``(F) evaluate the completion of safety recall
remedies on rental trucks; and''.
(b) Report.--Subsection (c) of such section is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as
subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, and indenting such
subparagraphs, as so redesignated, an additional two ems from
the left margin;
(2) by striking ``Report.--Not later'' and inserting the
following:
``(c) Reports.--
``(1) Initial report.--Not later'';
(3) in paragraph (1), by striking ``subsection (b)'' and
inserting ``subparagraphs (A) through (E) and (G) of subsection
(b)(2)''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) Safety recall remedy report.--Not later than 1 year
after the date of the enactment of the `Raechel and Jacqueline
Houck Safe Rental Car Act of 2014', the Secretary shall submit
a report to the congressional committees set forth in paragraph
(1) that contains--
``(A) the findings of the study conducted pursuant
to subsection (b)(2)(F); and
``(B) any recommendations for legislation that the
Secretary determines to be appropriate.''.
SEC. 8. PUBLIC COMMENTS.
The Secretary of Transportation shall solicit comments regarding
the implementation of this Act from members of the public, including
rental companies, consumer organizations, automobile manufacturers, and
automobile dealers.
SEC. 9. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall--
(1) be construed to create or increase any liability,
including for loss of use, for a manufacturer as a result of
having manufactured or imported a motor vehicle subject to a
notification of defect or noncompliance under subsection (b) or
(c) of section 30118 of title 49, United States Code; or
(2) supersede or otherwise affect the contractual
obligations, if any, between such a manufacturer and a rental
company (as defined in section 30102(a) of title 49, United
States Code).
SEC. 10. RULEMAKING.
The Secretary of Transportation may promulgate rules, as
appropriate, to implement this Act and the amendments made by this Act.
SEC. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date that
is 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
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