Senator Dale M. Volker Applauds The Elimination Of Vicarious Liability In New York

(Albany, NY) Senator Dale M. Volker (R-I-C, Depew) today applauded the United States Congress for actions taken to eliminate New York’s outdated vicarious liability law that has driven up the cost of leasing a car in New York and threaten manufacturing jobs affiliated with the auto industry.

"For the past several years, the State Senate has passed legislation to eliminate the vicarious liability law in New York State, only to see no action taken in the State Assembly to address this anti-consumer and anti-job creation statute," said Senator Dale M. Volker. "We owe a great deal of gratitude to the United State’s Congress for remedying this situation, so as to allow consumers to have more leasing options, stop frivolous lawsuits that only hurt our auto industry, and firmly protects the men and women in labor whose jobs depend on creating an economic environment that supports our business community. This is a huge victory for consumers and our manufacturing industry."

The federal transportation bill, just passed by Congress, would eliminate vicarious liability for rental and leased vehicles immediately. President Bush is expected to sign the bill. New York is currently the only remaining State in the nation with a vicarious liability law.

"The vicarious liability law had been a thorn in the side of our auto industry for decades and had almost completely eliminated the leasing of vehicles in New York State," said Senator Volker. "This caused an enormous concern to many New Yorkers who in the past had leased vehicles. Additionally, the major car manufacturers in the United States could not justify the leasing of vehicles due to the possibility of being sued, which had caused them to rethink their investments in New York, especially their manufacturing facilities in western New York. With today’s announcement, New York’s auto industry will be able to better compete with the rest of the nation, and those associated businesses with benefit as well."

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