Attorneys optional Alamo Rent-a-Car yesterday started a three-month test program in Honolulu and Phoenix that will provide legal representation to customers who get traffic tickets, for a charge of $4 a day.
with Alamo rental car
For $4 a day on Oahu,
a lawyer will be provided,
should you get a traffic ticketStar-Bulletin staff
"Good drivers make honest mistakes," said Alamo spokesman David Gilman. "There was no specific impetus for this, any more than the effort to offer things of value that responsible drivers might need."
Alamo, a unit of Florida-based ANC Rental Corp., picked Honolulu and Phoenix as popular destinations for tourists and business travelers who may not know their way around, Gilman said.
"Any criminal behavior, like (driving while intoxicated), it would not be included in this," Gilman added.
The Ticket Defense Service program, akin to a legal insurance policy, has doubters. "I don't think realistically, they'll be able to do more than (renters) can do for themselves," state District Judge Russell Nagata told the Wall Street Journal.
When asked if Alamo could guarantee results to customers, Gilman said, "No, of course not."
The point is that the firm is offering legal representation to help people fight tickets once they've returned home and don't know what to do, Alamo said.
The program probably won't affect driving habits, said Honolulu Police Department spokeswoman Jean Motoyama. "As far as we're concerned it's pretty much business as usual," she said. "We're going to continue to enforce the law, no matter what."
Hawaii car rental firm Budget said it doesn't have such a program. A Hertz official couldn't be reached for comment.
Alamo's legal representation will be provided through MetLife unit Hyatt Legal Plans, which has network of 4,000 law firms in the United States.