A WEST Yorkshire MP is proposing legislation in Parliament today to tighten up on the hiring of “supercars.”
Halifax’s Holly Lynch says she has received hundreds of emails and complaints from people in her constituency about the issue and says she has the support of other Yorkshire MPs and South Yorkshire Mayor Dan Jarvis for changes to legislation she will propose in the House of Commons.
Tightening up the rules around hiring supercars is a bid to stop them being driven “recklessly” around West Yorkshire’s neighbourhoods, she said.
She says although the problem has been less of an issue during lockdown she has been working with frustrated residents, West Yorkshire Police and the local authority for some years on possible solutions to the problem.
“Since becoming an MP I’ve received hundreds of emails and phone calls from local people concerned about high-powered vehicles or supercars, being driven recklessly and irresponsibly around neighbours, often late at night.
“More often than not those vehicles do not belong to the driver, they have been hired over the course of a weekend or for a few days.
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“We have worked together with local and national partners to propose changes to the law which would force hire car companies to take some responsibility for the way these types of vehicle are driven, and prevent keys being passed from driver to driver in a way which puts members of the public at risk,” she said.
The law changes would mean any car for rental over 300 horsepower would be required to have black box which records details of how and when the car was driven.
The driver would also be required to demonstrate to the company renting the vehicle that they had explicit insurance cover as the named driver, for that specific vehicle, for the duration of the rental agreement, said Ms Lynch.
She added: “Although this sounds basic, too often drivers believe they have some form of insurance cover when they don’t, not only putting other road users and pedestrians at risk, but also passing the financial burden onto other road users when things go wrong.
“These changes will force both drivers and companies to take more responsibility for their actions.”
The Halifax Labour MP will also call on the Government to establish a taskforce to look into this issue in more detail which the Motor Insurance Bureau confirm is a significant issue right across the country.
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