“It is with a heavy heart that we confirm that this morning’s attack in New Orleans and the Tesla Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas both involved vehicles rented through Turo.”wrote, Wednesday January 1, the American peer-to-peer car rental company on its site. A white Ford pickup, used as a ram car, caused the death of at least 15 people in New Orleans on New Year’s Eve. On the day of January 1, a Tesla Cybertruck exploded in front of the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, resulting in the death of the person inside.
For the moment, apart from the use of the same application, the link has not been made between the two events. But Joe Biden said authorities were looking into whether there was “connexion”. “Our ‘trust and safety’ team works in conjunction with the authorities to share any information that could help them in their investigations”continues Turo, which is also present in France, on its website.
“Leader mondial”
Turo is a kind of Airbnb for cars, which connects individuals to rent their vehicles. He presents himself, on his site, as “the world leader in peer-to-peer car rental”with more than three million users. This application is available in the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, but also in France. It presents itself as a more economical alternative, with a wider range of vehicles, than traditional car rental agencies.
The platform was created in 2009 in San Francisco, United States, and claims 360,000 vehicles registered on its platform. It has accumulated $880 million in revenue in 2023. Among its main investors, we find American Express, BMW and Google Ventures, an investment fund founded by Google in 2009.
Verifications possible, but not automatic
To create a user account on Turo and rent a vehicle from another individual, all you need is an email address, a phone number and a photo of yourself. You must then enter your license information and address, but there is no need to send a photocopy of the document. Once all information has been submitted, the account is automatically considered as “approved”. You must then wait until it is “verified”a process that takes “usually 24 hoursand sometimes more if we need photos or additional information“according to the Turo website.
The platform explains that it can, “when the law permits”, “undertake checks, verifications and other procedures enabling it to confirm or verify the identity or background of users”. By registering, users give Turo permission to seek to obtain their automobile claims records or to conduct a criminal background check. But not all of these procedures are systematic.
In the case of the attack on New Orleans and the explosion of the Tesla Cybertruck, the American company explains that it “don’t think the rental companies had a criminal background that would have identified them as security threats”.
Dysfunctions in France
An investigation by Radio France’s investigation unit revealed, last November, numerous dysfunctions at Turo in France. In particular, vehicles have been rented when they are in poor condition or dangerous for the safety of drivers. A resident of the Paris region said, for example, that he had not been able to use the car rented on Turo, because of its burnt seats and dented bodywork. Another user had to return the vehicle she had rented because the engine revved on its own when it was turned on. She never managed to get reimbursed.
Turo claims to have implemented new selection criteria, including an age limit set at 18 years, except for collector cars. The company plans to lower it to 12 years to align with the quality criteria of other countries in which it operates.
