Roger Williams faces questions on auto dealer amendment (Texas Tribune) Apparently he, although a second generation car dealer, just can't see how this could be a conflict of interest. Right

The provision, an amendment offered just before midnight on Nov. 11, would allow dealers to rent or loan out vehicles even if they are subject to safety recalls. Rental car companies, meanwhile, don’t get the same treatment under the proposed law.

In essence, the amendment would allow an auto dealer to loan you a vehicle under active recall while you are getting your own fixed for the same defect.

Roger Williams protestations

Although Williams made references to recalls like the stickers on the windshield visor, the exemption for the auto dealers applies to any recall, said Clarence Ditlow III, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a Washington-based advocacy group.

“His examples are a red herring,” Ditlow said, adding that the examples Williams gave of typos in manuals and stickers are fixed by the auto companies sending the auto owner a letter — which means that the car would not be “under recall” for those things.

The reason for the original Senate amendment, Ditlow said, is the concern of Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., about a rental car under recall in 2004 that resulted in the death of two sisters. Raechel and Jacqueline Houck, 24 and 20, of Santa Cruz were killed while driving a recalled Chrysler PT Cruiser with a steering problem from Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Boxer opposes Williams’ amendment.

Ditlow said: “It’s a horrible amendment. No one should be given a loaner car on an outstanding recall. It’s a crash waiting to happen.”