[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 10112-10113]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       VICARIOUS LIABILITY REFORM

  Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, being mindful of yesterday's passage of 
SAFETEA, I rise to speak to an issue that was not addressed in the 
Senate bill. This is an area of the legal system needing reform that 
affects interstate commerce in the transportation sector--vicarious 
liability. These types of

[[Page 10113]]

laws exist in only a handful of States where nonnegligent owners of 
rented and leased vehicles are liable for the actions of vehicle 
operators.
  Although a vehicle renting or leasing company may take every 
precaution to ensure that a vehicle is in optimal operating condition 
and meets every safety standard, these companies can still be subject 
to costly lawsuits due to the actions of the vehicle's operator, over 
which the company has no control. Under these laws, leasing or rental 
companies can be liable simply because they are the owner of the 
vehicle.
  Though only a few States enforce laws that threaten nonnegligent 
companies with unlimited vicarious liability, they affect consumers and 
businesses from all 50 States. Vicarious liability means higher 
consumer costs in acquiring vehicles and buying insurance and means 
higher commercial costs for the transportation of goods. Left 
unreformed, these laws could have a devastating, effect on an 
increasing number of small businesses that have done nothing wrong.
  The House acted in H.R. 3 to address these unfair laws by creating a 
uniform standard to exclude nonnegligent vehicle renting and leasing 
companies from liability for the actions of a customer operating a safe 
vehicle. Under this provision, States would continue to determine the 
level of compensation available for accident victims by setting minimum 
insurance coverage requirements for every vehicle. Vicarious liability 
reform would not protect companies that have been negligent in their 
renting or leasing practices or in the care of the vehicle. This 
provision is a common sense reform that holds vehicle operators 
accountable for their own actions and does not unfairly punish owners 
who have done nothing wrong.
  Unfortunately, the Senate bill does not contain this important 
reform. I urge my colleagues. to consider the merits of this provision 
and retain the House-passed language in the conference bill.

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