The AP reports that a transportation bill “introduced by a Senate committee chairman would allow car rental companies to rent recalled vehicles that haven’t been repaired and eliminate any hard deadline for railroads to start using” positive train controls, according to safety advocates. The bill, introduced by Sen. John Thune, R-SD, “says companies must tell consumers about the recall notices in writing if they don’t intend to fix the cars first,” the article reports.
“You shouldn’t have to worry that it’s perfectly legal, under federal law, for a rental car company to hand you the keys to a ticking time-bomb car,” said Rosemary Shahan, president of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety. The bill would also give railroads more time to install PTC technology. “It’s an attempt to fool the American people so that government officials and railroad officials can say something is being done when the reality is it isn’t,” former NTSB Chairman Jim Hall said.
From the news release of the American Association for Justice.
