You must familiarise yourself with all your responsibilities towards the hire firm and be sure of their responsibilities towards you. A thorough check of the car before leaving the car hire company is essential to safeguard any claims they may try to make later on.
However, there is one thing that many people do not check and that is the driving laws of the county or country they will be travelling through. They assume that if they follow the standard laws of the road, and they are all careful drivers of course, then they will be ok.
This is not necessarily so as laws vary and many, even the antiquated ones, are still very much enforceable.
Many of the laws wouldn't cross most people's mind but you can never have too much knowledge. Not many drivers would consider driving blindfolded in Alabama, just as well as it is illegal. If you were driving near a place that sold cold drinks and food after 9pm in Arkansas and honked the horn of your hired car, you could very well be arrested.
When you use car hire to drive through California, be careful to never leave your vehicle unattended, as no vehicle without a driver is permitted to travel at speeds exceeding 60 mph. And it's always useful to know that if you are driving through San Francisco and your car windshield becomes dirty, it is illegal to wipe any part of your car with used underwear.
That is, of course, if you have a windshield, because Luxembourg law does not insist you have a windshield but does insist you have windshield wipers.
If you intend to spit out of the window in Georgia, make sure you do it from a truck and not from a bus or car as this will get you a fine.
Some road traffic laws make good common sense that you hope nobody needs telling such as the law in Ohio that makes it illegal to travel on the roof of a taxi cab, Tennessee law that states you must not drive whilst asleep or in Denmark where you should check for small children beneath your car before you set off.
If you do decide on car hire through America and you happen to pass through Texas, steer well clear of all alcohol. It is illegal to drive within an arms length of alcohol - even that which may be in somebody else's bloodstream.
One traffic law I wish was in place when my children were babies was the one set in Iowa where the ice cream man and his truck are banned.
Before cars where as popular as they are now, animals were used for transport. However, in Washington it is illegal to ride an ugly horse but who defines ugly? And if you choose an elephant instead of a car in Florida and tie it to a parking meter, you must still feed the meter as if it were a car.
Massachusetts law bans gorilla's from travelling in the back seat of a car - makes you wonder how many times they have had to enforce this law. It must have been at least once for them to come up with that law in the first place.
If you chose car hire in Oklahoma it pays to know that the molestation of a vehicle is illegal.
Let's hope you never find out if they still enforce this law but it is always wise to check on the laws of the country you are travelling to.
It seems as if recently the car hire industry has cleaned up its practises somewhat. For many years there have been unscrupulous companies who have angered customers through the use of small print in rental agreements. By 2006 this got so bad that the government stepped in and threatened to clean up the car hire industry with the use of heavy regulations and industry guidelines.
This formed part of a European action plan for the car hire industry; MEPs began talks to simplify the process of using car hire services. Reduced amounts of paperwork and transparency of contractual agreements was the order of the day. MEPs were eager to reduce hidden costs and ensure customers received the best service possible. Thankfully those in the car hire industry have rapidly taken the suggestions on board to maintain a reputation of honest business operations.
The reasons MPs have become embroiled in the situation is due to the constant letters of complaint that arrive on their desks from constituents. Members of the public voice their complaints about small print, clauses put in place to catch customers unawares and extortionate charges. In this case the politicians are performing their task adequately and have raised these issues at the pan-European level.
The reason that regulation needs to be carried out at a continental level is due to the nature of car hire. Being so closely related to the tourism industry, it is less the big international car hire firms but more the local cowboys who are happy to rip off tourists for a quick buck. By creating a standard from for those leasing a car, a state of uniformity could be created.
It is not only the contracts that should be studied, it is believed that a number of hire cars in Europe are totally unsafe and in many cases illegal. Again, this is not the multinational car hire companies as they have their own safety procedures to follow. One report that looked into a local firm's fleet found bent wheels, low tyre pressures and brake fluid at dangerously low levels.
Extortionate charges were something that came up regularly in the talks. One MEP raised the case of a constituent who after coming back from holiday found that a car hire firm had charged her over five hundred pounds to fix a broken clutch that malfunctioned twenty minutes after leaving the company premises. This case was surely illegal but the nature of the contract in fact put the company in the right.
The issue of damage disputes is something that has trouble the car hire industry greatly. Liability for such minor events as chips on the windscreen and small scratches can in many cases drive costs up. Naturally the car hire firms want to protect their fleets but this should not be at the expense of the customer. As a trade that is so closely tied with the tourist industry, the potential for national revenues to suffer is strikingly acute.
The reason a uniform set of contracts is needed also is due to the various languages present in the European Union. It is believed that one misprint in the Canary Islands led to a damage excess being 480,000 euros instead of the rather more respectable 480. It is events such as this that have led to calls for the uniform set of contracts.
The bigger well known car hire companies have been extremely helpful in the task and are aiming to keep their worldwide reputation at a decent level. MEPs have in fact stated that they do not want to have to legislate the industry, they would prefer the industry to clean up after itself.
In many respects the larger players in the trade have answered this call and made steps towards uniform contracts within their own companies. It is further reason to use bigger firms instead of the local firms that may result in emptying your wallet.
Both Catherine Harvey & Thomas Pretty are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Catherine Harvey has sinced written about articles on various topics from Culture and Society, Home and Wedding Gowns. Travel expert Catherine Harvey looks at some of the things customers should know before travelling. To find out more please visit. Catherine Harvey's top article generates over 1500000 views. to your Favourites.
Thomas Pretty has sinced written about articles on various topics from Formula One, Debts Loans and Interior Design. Industry expert Thomas Pretty looks at the EU investigation into business practices in the industry. To find out more please visit. Thomas Pretty's top article generates over 1500000 views. to your Favourites.