Zipcar fines overview:ย
- Who: Zipcar was fined $300,000 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).ย
- Why: Zipcar was found to have rented vehicles with open recalls, a violation of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act.
- Where: The Zipcar fines consent order came from NHTSAโs Washington, D.C., office.
Zipcar was fined $300,000 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for renting vehicles that had open recalls.
Zipcar was the first of new NHTSA fines related to open recalls. The NHTSA enforcement authority came from the Fixing Americaโs Surface Transportation Act of 2015 (FAST Act) which included a ban on renting unrepaired recalled vehicles.
โVehicles with open, unrepaired recalls pose a safety risk to everyone on the road,โ NHTSA Acting Administrator Ann Carlson said. โNHTSA takes violations of the Safety Act very seriously. The agency will continue to use the full scope of its enforcement authorities to protect the public from safety defects in their personal vehicles or in a vehicle they rent.โ
Zipcar was ordered to pay half of its NHTSA fines immediately while the second half is deferred and will have to be paid depending on conditions in the consent order.
Zipcar claims it has made significant improvements since NHTSA investigation began in 2018
Zipcar must submit an audit report of all Zipcar vehicles with an open recall at any time within 150 calendar days after the effective date of the consent order and must update its employee training to make sure that employees are aware of the recall-related requirements from the NHTSA.
The consent order is effective for one year but can be extended by another year at the NHTSAโs discretion. Zipcar said that it has already updated its recall policies and procedures since the NHTSA investigation began in 2018.
Zipcar has added a centralized, real-time automated documentation system for recalled vehicles that makes recalled vehicles unavailable for new rental reservations.
The system also addresses the recall requirements and how vehicles are released from that system after they are fixed. Zipcar also said it has increased communication between its home and field offices about which vehicles are grounded.
Zipcarโs failed in its 2015 attempt to dismiss a $5 million class action lawsuit claiming the short term car rental service illegally forces customers to pay unreasonable late fees.
Have you ever rented a car from Zipcar? Let us know in the comments.
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