Following its use in two events on Wednesday, an online vehicle rental service is being investigated.
Turo is a platform that lets individual automobile owners hire out their vehicles, earning it the nickname “Airbnb of cars.” Car owners, referred to as hosts, can list their vehicles on Turo’s website for rent, with payments made via the platform.
In a statement released online on Wednesday, Turo admitted that it was used in both occurrences.
“It is with a heavy heart that we confirm that this morning s horrific attack in New Orleans and this afternoon s Tesla Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas both involved vehicles rented on Turo,” the business stated. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.”
“I don’t think the people who would have hired the cars involved in the incidents had criminal histories “that would have recognized them as a security threat,” it said, adding that it didn’t know of any evidence linking the two occurrences.
Turo stated in a statement Thursday afternoon that the renters of the cars were honorably discharged from the U.S. military, had clean background checks, and legitimate driver’s licenses.
“They could have boarded any plane, checked into a hotel, or rented a car or truck from a traditional vehicle rental chain,” Turo stated. “We do not believe these two individuals would have been flagged by anyone including Big Rental or law enforcement.”
Turo was used to rent a pickup truck that crashed through New Orleans partygoers early on Wednesday, according to investigators, and to acquire a Tesla Cybertruck that was loaded with explosives and caught fire outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.
According to preliminary reports from authorities, the use of the service in both occurrences is coincidental. Authorities stated there was no conclusive connection between the two occurrences on Thursday afternoon.
Turo was founded in 2009 under the name RelayRides. It matured during the larger surge in peer-to-peer businesses like Uber and Airbnb, which aimed to upend a number of established sectors, such as those for renting cars, homes, and even swimming pools.
But security concerns accompanied that disturbance. Peer-to-peer websites like Turo have been under fire for years after automobiles were stolen and used for illegal activities. In the past, the corporations have stated that these kinds of instances are extremely uncommon. However, NBC News discovered that 49 cases of motor vehicle thefts in Washington, D.C., over a roughly four-month period between October 2019 and February 2020, featured automobiles rented from Turo or its competitor, Getaround, accounting for 6% of all incidents during that time.
According to a corporate filing, Turo has approximately 150,000 active hosts globally as of September 30, along with 350,000 active vehicle listings and 3.5 million active guests using its marketplace.
Turo’s website assures hosts that they can trust the platform since it screens each visitor, giving them peace of mind when they turn over their keys.
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