News-Press
Final Lawsuit Against Rental or Vehicle Leasing Company
Fort Myers, FL -- Moments before U.S. President George W. Bush signed the highway and transit construction bill into law on Thursday August 11, 2005, Fort Myers based law firm Viles & Beckman, LLC filed a final claim against a major rental car company. It was the final lawsuit in U.S. history against a vehicle leasing or Rental car Company.
Prior to the bill, sixteen states and the District of Columbia had allowed rental car companies the freedom to lease cars to a customer whether or not the customer had his or her own insurance. In exchange, state law required the rental companies to assume responsibility when uninsured drivers caused injury and were financially unable to compensate the people they injured or killed. On March 9, 2005, Representative Sam Graves (R-MO) offered an amendment to the House Transportation Bill (HR 3) to remove the “vicarious” liability, allowing rental car companies to lease vehicles to uninsured drivers with no recourse for innocent victims should an accident occur. The House voted narrowly to accept this amendment, nullifying state laws that imposed vicarious liability to rental car companies.
While the removal of the vicarious liability clause marks an historic victory for rental car companies, vehicle leasing companies, and the insurance industry, it is a sad occasion for American consumers and the consumer protections that safeguard us. The combination effect of not holding car rental companies and vehicle leasing companies responsible for what their customers do while driving rental vehicles, and then not obligating car rental companies and vehicle leasing companies to require their customers to have insurance to cover potential damages, leaves the general public in grave danger. If ever the unthinkable happens involving a serious lifetime injury or death, who will be held responsible to help that innocent victim with his or her lifetime medical bills? We are only happy that we were able to file our final lawsuit against a major rental car company prior to the signing into law of the highway and transit construction bill, helping to award at least one more innocent victim his due justice in court.