Law for Age Requirement for Renting a Car

There is no set law for an age requirement for renting a car. New York is the only state that requires car rental companies to rent to all qualified drivers 18 years of age and older. Many companies require drivers to be at least 25 years old to rent a vehicle. Several will rent to drivers over 21, but penalize those under 25 with a daily surcharge. This surcharge can sometimes be so expensive that it almost doubles the entire cost to rent an economy class car. Other companies restrict the types of vehicles drivers under 21 years old can drive, usually not allowing them to drive luxury cars. Almost all car rental companies will refuse to rent to drivers under 21 years of age. Younger drivers pose a greater risk because they have a higher chance to possibly have an accident, which is why car rental companies refuse to offer car rentals to young adults. Anyone at any age is capable of having a car accident. It is true that with experience comes better drivers, but not always.
Sometimes it is possible for younger drivers to rent from small company owners or companies far from big cities, for they would be more lax on the company policies. If a young traveler is trying to rent a car from an airport, they should bring extra cash to either pay for daily surcharges or paying for taxis and bus fares. This is unfair for travelers under 25, because sometimes alternative transportation is not always readily available or accessible and might come at a very large expense then.

It is illegal to discriminate against an otherwise qualified applicant seeking to rent a car due to age, but because of public safety considerations from operation of vehicles, car rental companies are given flexibility under the law in setting blanket age restrictions.