California lawmakers are urging Governor Gavin Newsom to sign a bill that would allow rental car companies to use GPS technology sooner to find stolen rental cars faster.
San Francisco leaders say this would also prevent the cars from being used for theft and trafficking.
When a rental car isn’t returned on time, as California state law stands today, companies are required to wait 72 hours to use GPS to find it.
“It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense,” Matt Haney, a California Assemblymember said.
Haney authored a bill that would shorten the window down to 24 hours instead.
And now, he’s urging Governor Newsom to sign the bill.
“Many of these rental cars, when they’re stolen, are actually used in other crimes,” he said. “Someone doesn’t want to use their own car in a crime because it can be traced so they take a rental car, they steal it and they go commit other crimes.”
He claims over the past three years, rental car companies have reported a 266% increase in rental car thefts.