Enterprise Hit With Verdict After Rental Car Burns From Car Collision - Dallas, Texas

 

A jury determined that Enterprise Rent-A-Car must pay $15 million for two sisters who died in a collision after their rental car caught fire. In 2004, Raechel Veronique Houck, 24, and Jacqueline Marie Houck, 20, were on the 101 freeway when a fire started under the hood of the PT Cruiser. This caused them to lose control and collide head-on with a tractor-trailer, killing both women. A month earlier, Daimler Chrysler Corp. had recalled PT Cruisers after discovering that a defect in the power steering pressure hose could lead to fires. However, Enterprise continued to rent the recalled vehicles. The Houcks' parents sued Enterprise for negligence, and it eventually stipulated to liability on those claims. A products liability lawsuit against Chrysler and its auto dealers was dismissed after Chrysler filed for bankruptcy and the case proceeded to trial on damages against Enterprise only.

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