Buried deep in the mammoth transportation bill that passed both houses of Congress last week was a provision nullifying a New York State law that has prompted many car companies and banks to stop leasing cars in New York.
The New York law -- which dates to 1924, when Ford was still selling Model T Touring Cars -- makes it possible to sue the owner of a vehicle involved in an accident, regardless of who was driving the vehicle. The law was intended to hold rich owners responsible for the damage caused when their livery drivers were involved in crashes. But in recent years, after juries granted large judgments against several car leasing companies, many major carmakers and some banks decided to stop leasing cars in New York because of the law. . . .
[T]he Washington legislation stunned officials in Albany, where the leasing issue had become a flashpoint in the perennial battles between Assembly Democrats, who fought to keep the state law, and the Republican-controlled State Senate and Gov. George E. Pataki, a Republican, who fought to eliminate it. Suddenly, an amendment of a federal law by a Missouri Republican, Representative Sam Graves, put an unexpected end to the issue.
Details here from the New York Times via LexisONE.com.