
Covington, Va. car rental chain pulls ads amid opioid crisis
A car rental company is pulling advertisements for a car rental site that’s been a source of controversy for several years because of allegations of a user’s death.
The car rental business on Interstate 75 in Covingston, Virginia, has been a target of controversy after a Facebook user in July 2016 said she was killed by an intoxicated driver and posted about it on Facebook Live.
Covington Police said the company pulled ads on Aug. 9, and that it was investigating the death.
The Facebook post came after the company released an investigation into the death of a man it says died after being hit by a vehicle.
The victim’s name and the driver’s name were not immediately released.
The company said on its website that it is removing all ads from its site and that “it will not be providing advertising on any other CarRental.com site, including our website, Facebook page or other social media channels.”
The CarRescue Network, a nonprofit that runs car rental sites in Virginia, told The Associated Press that it plans to take the ads off its site.
It’s unclear what impact the ads would have on other sites.
CarRescuion Network spokeswoman Natalie Tapp told the AP that she could not comment on the circumstances of the case and that CarRas will not make any changes to the CarRoc site.
Car rental sites are often considered safe havens for addicts and other users because they are not required to be licensed and are often run by people with addiction problems, including heroin and prescription opioid addiction.
But the companies have faced scrutiny in recent years because they operate without insurance and are not regulated by the federal government.
In the wake of the death, the company posted a video of a driver who said he was driving on I-75 in Charlottesville and was hit by an oncoming car and died at the scene.
In the video, the driver can be heard saying he was intoxicated and his license had expired.
The video, which has been viewed more than 3 million times, prompted more than 50 protests, and police have investigated the death and said they’re investigating whether the driver had a valid license.
The Charlottesville Police Department says they’ve been reviewing the case.
Carrassons spokeswoman Tapp said in a statement the company was pulling ads for the Carrasson Network, which operates several CarRentals and CarRacings in the area, including in Richmond, a city with a large population of addicted people.