Smart Car Rental Launched in Texas

Texas is not the sort of place you would associate with small city cars. It is the land of giant trucks with giant cow horns on the grill being driven by giant men in giant hats. It is also the home of oil barrens so being eco-friendly is perhaps not a big priority.

Perhaps I've got the wrong idea about Texas which is apparently the home to a new Smart Car rental program. The cars are rented out by the hour and can be hired at short notice. They cost 19 cents a minute or $73.40 per day.



The scheme is being run by Daimler who ran a similar project in Ulm, Germany last year. Originally the cars were only available to Mercedes-Benz (who own Smart) employees but it was made available to all inhabitants last March.

The scheme is expected to be expanded to many more cities over the next few years. Traditional car hire and van rental companies have also shown an interest in providing small cars at their urban locations. Eventually electric cars may become the vehicle of choice for those exploring a new city. London already has several electric car hire companies and more are expected to follow.

Should Smoking be Banned in all Rental Vehicles?

Last month car rental company Avis banned smoking in all of their vehicles in order to cut down on cleaning costs. They said that customers were increasingly asking for smoke free cars and most objected to being able to smell the previous customer's cigarettes. Smoking has been banned in countless places over the last few years isn't it about time is was completely banned in hire cars?

Personally I would complain if I were to rent a hire car or hire van and find that it smelled like an ashtray. I'm no doctor so I'm not sure if there are any health risks associated with passive smoking once the smoke has disapated but I wouldn't want to risk it. At the very least those who wish to smoke in their hire car should have to pay extra for cleaning.

I don't believe in the erossion of people's civil liberties but when it comes to smoking I have very little sympathy. Making it harder for people to smoke is a positive thing and encourages people not to put their health at risk.