Millions of Vehicles With Open Recalls Are Still On the Road

California car lemon law aims to protect buyers of vehicles that turn out to have serious problems. Unfortunately, there are millions of cars that are on the roads today that have defects which are not repaired and which many drivers aren't even aware exist. 

Drivers whose cars have safety issues often face an increased risk of becoming involved in a collision or getting hurt if an accident does happen. In many cases, the drivers of these vehicles don't know that their car has been recalled and that they are in jeopardy of getting hurt because of the unrepaired problem with their vehicle.

There are Millions of Dangerous Cars on the Road

According to recent reports from Carfax, there are more than 57 million cars on the road currently that are under an open recall. This is more than one car out of every five vehicles being driven in the United States. This data comes from annual research conducted by Carfax, the online car dealer.

Recalled vehicle are not distributed evenly across the country, either. There are certain locales where there is an especially high number of cars with an open recall. For example, the states where there were the most vehicles on the road that were subject to recall include California, Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, and the state of New York. Because of the higher concentration of recalled vehicles in these areas, the risk on the roads is even greater.

There are many possible reasons why drivers don't know about the problems with their cars. In many cases, drivers did not receive proper notice or they purchased used vehicles and weren't aware that they did not have to be alerted if the car had been subject to a recall or if it had been repaired properly. 

The data from Carfax also suggests that work/life balance could be one of the possible reasons why so many drivers are currently traveling around in vehicles with open recalls. The data shows that both light trucks and SUVs are especially likely to be driven by owners who are not aware of open recalls or who have not had their recalled vehicles repaired. These types of cars are often driven by busy families and businesses, so operators may not open notifications alerting them to recalls or may not have time to research the issue of their car recall or the types of defects that their vehicle has.

When drivers do not know of a recall, they cannot be proactive in getting repairs made before something goes wrong. Unfortunately, in some cases, even drivers who do become aware of a recall and try to make fixes may be unable to do so in a timely manner as a result of a limited number of parts available for some of the defective components found most commonly in cars – such as Takata airbags.

Drivers need to be proactive in looking up whether their own car was recalled and taking prompt steps to get it repaired if it was. Motorists also need to know all of their consumer rights when it comes to defective vehicles. A California car lemon law attorney can help those whose cars have problems to pursue an appropriate legal remedy.