According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), one in four (25%) motor vehicles on the roads today is being driven with an unrepaired recall. Some estimates are there are over 70,000,000 motor vehicles being driven with unrepaired defects in this country that put not only the driver at risk, but also those that share the roads with him or her. Read, “Over 70 Million Vehicles on the Road with Open Recalls,” published by the Consumer Federation of America on September 18, 2018.
Of importance, these numbers focus upon recalls for defective and dangerous parts or components contained solely in automobiles, minivans, SUVS, and other personal motor vehicles. It does not apply to commercial rigs, which are treated differently insofar as making sure that dangerous defects are repaired once a recall has been issued.
Commercial Truck Recalls: Big Rigs and Semis Recall Repairs Overseen by FMCSA
There is a corresponding problem of recalls involving commercial motor vehicles including big rigs, semi-trucks, tractor-trailers, and 18-wheelers. They are also subject to manufacturer recalls due to defects in their design or build. Commercial truck recalls are issued many times during each calendar year in the United States.
However, for commercial trucks, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) works in tandem with NHTSA in overseeing these dangers to public safety. For semi-truck recalls, FMCSA issues orders that federal and state roadside safety inspectors are to pull unrepaired big rigs and semi-trucks off the roads if they are subject to a recall and have not been temporarily or permanently fixed. See, for instance, the March 2016 FMCSA Notice to pull certain Volvo trucks from the road because they were manufactured without a roll pin in their steering shaft.
There is no corresponding oversight of non-commercial motor vehicles in this country. No legal authority sits by the roadside to pull over cars or minivans in order to confirm whether or not a recall has been repaired in that vehicle.
National Safety Council’s Check to Protect Program
Of note, Illinois’ National Safety Council has recently partnered with the Carma Project to implement an experimental program in Orange County, California called the “Check to Protect” program. Here, NSC uses technology to scan license plates mounted on special cars as they drive alongside other vehicles, to find vehicles with open safety recalls. Those with open safety recalls get a notice placed on their windshield, explaining the specific recall and where it can be repaired.
New September 2020 NHTSA App for Car Recalls
Last month, NHTSA revealed its new “SaferCar” app which can be downloaded for either Android or iOS on its website. The new smartphone application allows the driver to add their make and model of vehicle along with the Vehicle Identification Number as well as information pertaining to components of the vehicle like its tires or car seats (or other equipment, like brakes).
Once the information is provided, the new NHTSA app works to notify the driver with an alert on the phone if there is an existing or new recall that pertains to the entered information.
There are several concerns with this new freebie from NHTSA. Consider the following:
- First of all, it will work only for those drivers who are aware of this new offer. How many people on the roads of Indiana and Illinois know about NHTSA’s website?
- Secondly, it will help only those drivers with a smartphone. Not everyone who drives a motor vehicle in Illinois and Indiana has a smartphone.
- Third, it provides alerts only as far as the information provided. Recalls can involve all sorts of parts and components of a motor vehicle. The app requires the driver to input not only the VIN, but also separate identification for things like tires. How many recalls will slip through the cracks here?
From a victim’s advocate perspective, there is also the consideration of what this means insofar as the legal duty involved in preventing serious or deadly accidents on the roads of Indiana and Illinois caused by a product defect or unrepaired recall. Is this federal offering going to be used by car makers as an excuse to try and avoid legal liability for the defective product they allowed out into the marketplace?
Safety Advocates Argue NHTSA App Moves Duty from Manufacturer to Owner
This week, the Executive Director of the Center for Auto Safety voiced his concern about this issue and the way in which personal motor vehicle recalls are being handled by the Department of Transportation. Read, “Consumers Pay When Government Ignores the Law,” written by Jason Levine and published by Newsday on October 4, 2020.
From CAS’s Jason Levine (emphasis added):
Today’s DOT, however, in keeping with the general disdain for the law that pervades the current administration, has chosen to believe that congressionally mandated rules and deadlines were coincidental to safety increases. Instead of fighting on behalf of every driver, passenger and pedestrian, the department routinely ignores laws signed by presidents of both political parties and substitutes weak voluntary programs that push the responsibility for safety back to the consumer. DOT has treated the 2015 update to the recall notification law as a suggestion to ignore, rather than a mandate to enforce, forcing the consumers to suffer the consequences.
Recalls and Fatal Car Crashes
All too often, automotive defects compromise the ability of the driver to operate or control his motor vehicle, resulting in a severe or fatal car crash.
Unlike big rig and semi-truck recalls, there is no legal authority checking the roads to make sure that automobiles with unrepaired, dangerous defects are not being driven. As a result, for anyone driving on our local roads in traffic containing four or more cars, it is highly likely based upon NHTSA’s data that they are driving alongside a dangerous, unrepaired vehicle.
Any severe or deadly auto accident in Indiana and Illinois must be investigated for the possibility that an unrepaired defect subject to recall contributed to the incident.
These cases may be based upon a combination of allegations involving (1) the driver’s negligence as well as (2) claims based upon laws protecting against defective products where the manufacturer (as well as suppliers, distributors, sellers, etc.) may be held legally liable for the resulting personal injuries of the crash.
It is to be expected that in these crashes, the insurance adjusters and defense counsel for the car makers and automotive product manufacturers and suppliers will try and find all possible shields from financial liability for the accident.
This month’s warning from the Center for Auto Safety confirms that future crash victims and their loved ones can expect the online “SaferCar” app to be used as a defense argument. Defendants may attempt to use this argument to toss responsibility onto the owner or driver of the unrepaired car — and away from the corporations that have put profits over people and allowed these dangers not only to enter the marketplace, but to remain there as time bombs for unsuspecting motorists.
For more on unrepaired recalls and fatal car crashes, read:
- OIG Criminal Investigation into Deadly and Defective Goodyear Never-Recalled G159 RV Tires
- We Cannot Depend Upon NHTSA to Protect Against Deadly Motor Vehicle Recall Crashes
- Fatal Accidents When Motor Vehicle Recalls Are Not Fixed: Who is Liable?
- Car Recall Crisis: Millions of Defective Recalled Vehicles On the Road; What Happens After a Serious Accident in Indiana or Illinois?
- Feds Requiring Air Bags Be Kept After Recall — Why? Defendants Like to Get Rid of Possible Evidence Against Them
Unrepaired defects in motor vehicles are a clear and present danger on the roads of Illinois and Indiana. Please be careful out there!
