Recalls and auto product liability can affect millions of vehicle owners. The recalls from 2017 covered over 42 million vehicles, while the recalls from 2018 have thus far covered over 29 million vehicles.
Defective auto parts can increase accident risks, may leave occupants more vulnerable to harm should crashes occur, and often cause serious personal injuries. Recalls can play a very important role in getting defects addressed before they cause harm connected to auto product liability.
However, there are certain factors that can keep recalls from fully serving this purpose. One is when automakers drag their feet on recalling vehicles over safety defects. The longer that recalls are unnecessarily delayed, the longer consumers could be exposed to potentially harmful auto defects. How automakers act when it comes to recalls matters considerably.
Another issue related to recalls is that recalled vehicles are sometimes never repaired. Auto recalls have far from perfect completion rates here in the United States. Such rates tend to be even lower for older vehicles. One thing leading to a recall repair not being made is a consumer not realizing that a vehicle has been recalled because a recall notice got lost in the shuffle. Vehicle owners need to keep an eye out for recall notices and regularly check to see if any of their vehicles are subject to a recall.
What do you think of the current state of auto recalls in the U.S.? Are there any changes you would like to see when it comes to such recalls to reduce the instances of auto product liability?
