Greedy, unscrupulous car dealers are high-fiving themselves, as Democratic and Republic legislators in California continue to vote unanimously to legalize dealers’ sales of unsafe, recalled used cars with lethal safety defects to consumers.
Testifying against the car dealers’ bill: Cally Houck, who lost her two daughters, Raechel and Jacqueline, ages 24 and 20, due to a recalled car. A steering hose leaked, causing an under-hood fire and a loss of steering control. The two sisters ended up colliding head-on with an 18-wheeler truck.
As their mother, Cally Houck, told legislators: AB 287, the car dealers bill, “would protect dealers, not consumers.” The bill is being authored by Assemblymember Richard Gordon, who has said that his father and grandfather were car dealers.
Also testifying against the bill: Mark Anderson, who testified on behalf of the National Association of Consumer Advocates. According to NACA, if the dealers win, California will become a dumping ground for unsafe, recalled cars that would be illegal for dealers to sell in other states. That would translate into more fatalities and injuries, and higher risk for everyone who shares the roads.
According to the car dealers’ bill, the defect that killed Raechel and Jacquie would not be considered “serious.”
Read more:
Orange County Register: A record 64 million cars were recalled last year: Here’s what’s being done to make buying safer used cars
Ventura County Star: Capps introduces rental car bill named for Ojai sisters killed in crash