Good Enough to Drive a Humvee…But Not a Ford Rental?

Car rental agencies’ policy against renting vehicles to anyone under 21 is a “little-known glitch” that should not apply to active members of the military, according to an editorial in the Paris Post-Intelligencer. Some agencies set the age limit at 25.

Rental car agencies say the insurance risk of allowing rental cars to those under 21 is too high. But the editorial states that if people are trusted to drive tanks and Humvees in battle, those soldiers should be trusted to drive a Ford.

If rental agencies won’t allow exceptions in the case of active-duty military, then the government should indemnify rental agencies against loss on rentals to those in uniform, the editorial continues. Thirty-five percent of our active-duty military is under 21, says one advocacy group.

The editorial in the Tennessee newspaper was written as the state’s largest National Guard unit left home for its second deployment to Iraq.