When people rent cars, they likely are considering style and comfort before looking up the car's safety rating. Most would assume that the cars available by rental companies are closely inspected, regulated and are routinely maintained.

Unfortunately, most car companies aren't properly maintaining or fixing recalled vehicles and sometimes companies forgo common safety options, putting Louisiana customers at risk of serious bodily injury or death. Now, two senators are furthering the call for regulation of an industry that has sometimes put profits before safety.

Numerous reports of safety issues have prompted the senators to take up a proposal that would restrict companies from renting or selling cars that haven't had recall repairs made. Not only have companies failed to repair recalled cars, which lead to the death of people in another state, but limiting safety features that one would expect with a modern car, has also contributed to serious bodily injury. One woman rolled her rented SUV multiple times and later found out the car wasn't equipped with traction control technology, which would have only cost the company a few hundred dollars more, and is standard in many vehicles today.

Although an industry trade group says there are already new policies in place regarding recalled vehicles, after the massive wave of recalls over the past few years, those who have had family members injured or killed by recalled rental cars want strict government action.

Right now, it appears no federal agency is responsible for regulating the car rental industry. Preventing unsuspecting drivers from using recalled cars in Louisiana and around the country would be a positive step in reducing serious bodily injuries. These regulations will ensure more people remain safe on the roads.

Source: USA Today, "Safety advocates: Rental car recalls should be regulated," Gary Stoller, Feb. 21, 2012