A Sacramento-based consumer advocacy group and a devastated Ventura County mom are pressing California lawmakers to close what they call a lethal loophole in car rental procedures.

Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS) and Carol Houck have been appealing to lawmakers, the auto industry and the public for passage of Assembly Bill 753, which would prohibit rental car companies in California from renting or selling cars subject to federal safety recall.

Houck is the mother of Raechel Houck, 24, and her 20-year-old sister. Jacqueline, who were killed in 2004 in a fiery head-on collision on Highway 101 in Monterey County. Driving from Santa Cruz to Ojai to see their parents, the women were in a rented Chrysler PT Cruiser subject to a safety recall.

Assemblyman Bill Monning, D-Carmel, is author of the bill, formally called the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Rental Car Safety Act.

“A consumer should be able to rent a car without worrying about safety issues that should have already been fixed,” Monning said. “While some rental car companies have changed their policies as a result of this tragedy, legislation is still necessary to ensure that all consumers are protected when they rent a car in California.”

For Carol Houck and Rosemary Shahan, president of CARS, AB 753 is the latest round in a years-long effort to get legal protection for rental car users. They say passage would make it the first such law in the United States.

“We may not be able to protect everyone in Nevada or Utah, but at least we could protect consumers in California with this (bill),” Shahan said.

Rental car companies say the measure’s language is too sweeping and includes recall work on problems that do not compromise safety.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has countered that “all safety recalls resulting from defects present an

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