If a new car is recalled for a safety problem, it’s illegal for a dealer to sell you that car until the issue has been fixed. However, no similar protection exists for a person who buys a recalled used car or rents a recalled car. Under current federal law, rental-car companies and used-car dealers are not required to fix a defect—or even tell you about a problem—before you drive the vehicle off the lot.

This gap in safety law puts millions of people at risk, and it has had tragic consequences. In 2004 a tragic incident occurred in U.S, sisters Raechel and Jacqueline Houck of Santa Cruz, Calif., were killed when the crusier they had rented from a Enterprise caught fire and crashed into an oncoming tractor-trailer. The car had been recalled the previous month because of the risk of fire from a leak in the power steering hose. But it was not repaired, and Enterprise kept renting it out. The defect led to the fatal crash.

To address this serious problem, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx is called on Congress to pass legislation that would prohibit rental-car companies and used-car dealers from renting or selling vehicles subject to a recall without first making the necessary fix. That is why the Transportation Secretary in Nigeria calls on the Nigeria Federal Governemt to close a dangerous safety gap, and avoid such tragedy.