Posted on March 12, 2008 by Fiona Hilliard

Choosing car hire Orlando for a road trip, Houston car rental for a business meeting or car hire as a replacement for a broken-down vehicle seem legitimate reasons for renting a car in the US.  However, car hire companies in the US are finding increasingly that people are renting cars to engage in illegal activity.  Police in numerous American jurisdictions have highlighted the fact that rental vehicles are becoming the getaway vehicle of choice for criminals due to the degree of anonymity offered by hire cars.  In the state of Tennessee, the Chatanooga Police Department has found that in recent years, increasing numbers of criminals are turning to car hire in order to evade detection by authorities. 

To avoid being victims of crime, car hire companies are under pressure to put extra precautions in place which affect anyone who decides to rent a car.  Commenting on the need for improved security measures, Lisa Martini, spokesperson for Enterprise-Rent-A-Car said all those who hire vehicles are required to produce a valid driver’s license at the time of pick-up as well as a credit card.  This helps to greatly reduce the number of car rentals used for illegal activity.  She says cars that are used to commit felonies represent just a tiny fraction of all car hires.  At Enterprise, agents are trained to ‘facially’ verify a renter’s true identity by taking a close look at the name on their license.  However Martini rejected the idea of performing a background check on all renters as this would consume a significant amount of time, as well as resources.