>Let’s say you have a car you only use on weekends. What do you do with it during the week? Well, California may have an answer for you. The State Legislature passed a bill allowing personal car sharing. (Read it at this site). The bill states that personal insurance cannot be dropped as long as earnings don’t exceed the monthly costs of operating the vehicle, (if the car-sharing company covers insurance when it is being shared.)
Organizations like Spride Share (who work with City CarShare) are taking advantage of this change in law. They provide hardware and services so that members can sign up their car and make it available for sharing. The location, availability, and rates of the car can be set online by the owner. (More info here.)
A few questions remain – if the car is abandoned or stranded who arranges and pays for it to be retrieved? If the car is stolen who is responsible? Can you choose who can share your car? Still, it is potentially a great way to offset or even negate the costs of owning a car, especially if it is simply sitting in your driveway Monday to Friday.
Sources: Yahoo Green, City CarShare, Spride, New York Times.