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California Wants to Turn Personal Cars Into Rental Cars

October 6, 2010 at 10:40 AM | by | Comment (1)

There’s all kinds of alternatives to snagging a place to sleep for the night, but when it comes to taking a trip, it’s difficult to get away from the rental car counter. Sure there’s public transportation, but that’s not quite the same as getting into a PT Cruiser and heading out on the open road.

Things are about to change in California, and as a result, you might be able to score a unique option when it comes to securing wheels for the weekend. There’s a new car sharing program in the works, and it might just allow people to borrow the cars of friends, neighbors, and strangers. Now we just need to look around the neighborhood and find out where all the Ferrari owners are hiding.

Insurance regulations usually frown on this kind of thing, but officials in California are clearing the way for this kind of share-my-car system to hit the mainstream. In theory, users would gain access to other cars when their primary drivers aren’t using them, and a special key would provide entry into the driver’s seat.

Right now it’s kind of just an idea, but there are companies working on finalizing plans to launch things come next year. Obviously you’ll only want to grant access to friends and relatives that you trust, but if cash is tight, then who knows who you’ll end up trusting with your keys.

[Photo of some unhappy renters: peanutian]

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Car Sharing equals headache

I am sure that this scheme could be successful if one party doesn't require that car as much as the other. However when you need a car and it is being used by someone else, it is going to cause some accidents. I wonder if they would make some type of reservation system. Interesting to know how they would implement such a car sharing scheme.

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