Renting a car at age 21

By BRUCE MOHL
Boston Globe

It’s easier for younger drivers to rent a car than it used to be, but it’s still not cheap. Hertz, Avis and Budget all have lowered their minimum rental age recently from 25 to 21, but they are imposing daily surcharges on younger drivers because they tend to be involved in more accidents.

Hertz, for example, is charging drivers ages 21-25 an extra $25 per day for most vehicles and $35 per day in New York. In New York and Michigan, where state laws require companies to rent to 18- to 20-year-olds, Hertz tacks on an even higher surcharge: $51 per day in New York and $41 per day in Michigan.

Richard Broome, a spokesman for Hertz, said the higher surcharge in New York for drivers in that age group reflects a higher incidence of accidents among them in the New York City area and to a lesser degree the rest of the state.

Budget has policies that are similar to Hertz’s, but its New York surcharge is a whopping $115 per day. Alamo, which has been renting to those drivers for years, charges an extra $25 per day nationally and $70.82 a day in New York.

The surcharge fees can add up quickly. A one-day rental of a Hertz compact car at Boston’s Logan International Airport costs $84.50 with taxes and fees, but the cost rises to $109.50, a 30 percent increase, for a driver age 21-25.

The chief reason Hertz, Avis and Budget lowered their minimum driving age was reduced liability. In August, President Bush signed into law a federal highway bill that contained a provision effectively abolishing state laws establishing vicarious liability for rental and leasing companies.

Vicarious liability is a legal concept that in this case means the owner of a leased or rented vehicle could be held liable for injuries to others caused by the renter, even if the owner of the vehicle did nothing to contribute to the accident.

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