This is an interesting issue... is AirBnB legally obligated to police the rentals? Or are they considered more of an intermediary?

Your analogy to driving is an interesting one... is AirBnB the car rental company or the driver? For instance, if I drive drunk in a rental car, it's my fault, not hertz's.

There is a big difference, of course - Hertz really can't control what I do in the car (and they do spell out some restrictions on what I can do with it), whereas AirBnB has geographic location that might be more useful in determining whether a short term rental is allowed in an area. But even then, there may be different regulations on different types of housing units, leases that might have different restrictions, and so forth. It's hard to see how this wouldn't involve a requirement that the user "comply with all local laws and regulations".