Illinois Statutes Chapter 625. Vehicles § 27/5. Legislative findings

(a) Amendments enacted in 1988 which limit negligent drivers' liability for damage to vehicles rented from motor vehicle rental companies to $200 have had the unintended, anti-consumer effect of unfairly transferring most of the costs of liability for renters' negligence to car rental companies.

(b) This transfer of liability from negligent renters has forced Illinois rental companies and dealers to experience significant financial losses in the form of actual costs to repair, service, and replace vehicles and loss of economic opportunity by being deprived of the rental use of damaged or destroyed rental cars; as a result, many Illinois vehicle rental companies in Illinois have been forced to close because of the current amendments, and high risk to capital threatens to close existing companies; economic losses have also resulted in Illinois renters paying daily and weekly vehicle rental rates almost two-fold higher than renters in other states, including those states surrounding Illinois.

(c) As the vast majority of renters in Illinois are non-Illinois residents, the increased damage costs of rental car companies and dealers are absorbed and paid by all Illinois consumers and business.

(d) The current law also threatens the public safety of all Illinois citizens as it has contributed to an almost three-fold increase in driver crash and fatality rates in Illinois.