Brief Description: Addressing traffic infractions involving rental vehicles.

Sponsors: By Representative Appleton.

House Committee on Transportation
Senate Committee on Transportation

Background:

When liability for a traffic infraction based on the identity of the vehicle is determined to reside in a vehicle registered to a car rental company, state law creates a 30-day window from the time the car rental company is informed of the traffic infraction. Within this time frame, the car rental company may either provide, under oath, the name and address of the person driving the vehicle or state, under oath, that it is unable to determine who was driving or renting the vehicle at the time the infraction occurred.

Mailing this statement to the issuing law enforcement agency within the 30-day window relieves the car rental company of liability for the infraction. In lieu of identifying the vehicle operator, the company may also choose to pay the applicable penalty.

A traffic infraction based on the identity of the vehicle is defined to include, but is not limited to, parking infractions, high-occupancy toll lane violations, and violations recorded by automated traffic safety cameras.

Summary:

When a rental car business is unable to determine who was driving or renting a vehicle when an infraction occurred, it may avoid liability for the infraction only if the vehicle was stolen and the rental car business can provide a filed police report regarding the theft.

When the owner of a vehicle is a rental car business, parking infractions issued by private parking facilities based on a vehicle's identification are subject to the same statutory scheme applicable to infractions based on a vehicle's identification issued by law enforcement agencies.

Votes on Final Passage:

House   97   0
Senate   48   1   (Senate amended)
House   95   0   (House concurred)

Effective: July 22, 2007