Lawmaker introduces bill to prevent vehicles being used in attacks

<p>New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer has introduced a bill to help prevent future terror attacks.</p>

News 12 Staff

Jan 29, 2018, 11:27 PM

Updated 2,542 days ago

Share:

Lawmaker introduces bill to prevent vehicles being used in attacks
New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer has introduced a bill to help prevent future terror attacks.
The congressman’s bill would require car and truck rental companies to share information on renters with federal agencies. The names would then be cross-referenced with the terror watch list.
“There shouldn’t be a terrorist loophole where a terrorist can figure out a way around and go rent a vehicle and kill people,” Gottheimer says.
Car rental companies would be required to hand over a renter’s name, address and driver’s license number to be checked.
The legislation comes after a terror attack in New York City this past Halloween where Passaic resident Sayfullo Saipov allegedly drove a Home Depot truck into a group of people on a bike path. Eight people were killed and many more were injured.
New Milford resident Darren Drake was among the victims who died in the Halloween attack. Gottheimer invited Drake’s parents to come to the announcement of the bill.
“It’s America that was murdered, not necessarily just our son...We have to worry about us, the country,” says Darren Drake’s father James Drake.
“We can’t bring our son back but if we can provide that other families don’t have to go through the grief of losing a loved one due to a senseless murder, that would be wonderful,” says Darren Drake’s mother Barbara Drake.
Gottheimer pointed out that rented vehicles have been used on several occasions to perform terrorist acts. Terrorists used a rented Ryder truck to perform the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
The Drakes will be Gottheimer’s guests at the State of the Union Address Tuesday night.