Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act of 2013
Latest action · Sep 15, 2014 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 561.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMay 9, 2013
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)
Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act of 2013 - (Sec. 3) 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.
(Sec. 4) 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.
(Sec. 5) 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.
(Sec. 6) Authorizes the Secretary to study the effectiveness of the amendments made by this Act and of other activities of rental companies.
(Sec. 7) 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.
(Sec. 8) 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.
Cosponsors 8
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from May 9, 2013 to May 20, 2013; 7 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-CA | Barbara Boxer | Original | May 9, 2013 |
| D-MO | Claire McCaskill | Original | May 9, 2013 |
| D-CA | Dianne Feinstein | Original | May 9, 2013 |
| D-NY | Kirsten E. Gillibrand | Original | May 9, 2013 |
| R-AK | Lisa Murkowski | Original | May 9, 2013 |
| D-CT | Richard Blumenthal | Original | May 9, 2013 |
| D-PA | Robert P. Casey Jr. | Original | May 9, 2013 |
| D-HI | Brian Schatz | May 20, 2013 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Senate | Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee | Referred May 9, 2013Markup Jul 30, 2013Reported Sep 15, 2014 |
| Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance, and Data Security Subcommittee | Hearings May 21, 2013 |
Actions 6
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Sep 15, 2014Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Rockefeller without amendment. With written report No. 113-253.
- Sep 15, 2014Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 561.
- Jul 30, 2013Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.
- May 21, 2013Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance . Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 113-64.
- May 9, 2013Introduced in Senate
- May 9, 2013Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Committee report
Congressional Budget Office cost estimate
- Sep 11, 2013S. 921, Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act of 2013As ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on July 30, 2013
Printed hearings 4
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| S. Hrg. 113-698 | OVERSIGHT OF AND POLICY CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION113 pages | Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee | Sep 16, 2014 |
| S. Hrg. 113-715 | EXAMINING ACCOUNTABILITY AND CORPORATE CULTURE IN WAKE OF THE GM RECALLS111 pages | Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee | Jul 17, 2014 |
| S. Hrg. 113-119 | NOMINATION OF MAYOR ANTHONY FOXX TO BE SECRETARY OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION79 pages | Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee | May 22, 2013 |
| S. Hrg. 113-64 | S. 921, THE RAECHEL AND JACQUELINE HOUCK SAFE RENTAL CAR ACT OF 201368 pages | Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee | May 21, 2013 |
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 2760 | Motor Vehicle and Highway Safety Enhancement Act of 2014 | Related bill | Jul 31, 2014 |
| S 2819 | Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act of 2014 | Related bill | Sep 16, 2014 |
Titles 3
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- 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.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act of 2013
- Short Titles as Reported to Senate
- Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act of 2013
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Transportation and Public Works.
Text 2
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Sep 15, 2014Reported to Senate
- May 9, 2013Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
