New Report Shows Huge Problems With Automobile Recalls

There's nothing more frustrating to a car owner than buying a vehicle that turns out to have serious problems. Car owners who find themselves in this situation are supposed to be protected.

An Orange County lemon law attorney can provide insight into different ways that the law is supposed to keep consumers safe and help them to pursue appropriate legal remedies in the event of car issues.  Unfortunately, while these laws are supposed to provide protection, the system doesn't always work as it should.

In fact, new reports have recently suggested that there have been big problems with the ways in which some vehicle recalls have been carried out.

The Problems With the Way Vehicle Recalls Occur

WESH published details on the recent report related to problems with vehicle recalls. According to WESH, the issue stem from the way that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration handled problems with Takata airbags. 

The problem airbags caused at least 15 fatalities, and yet despite the grave risk that the airbags present, the process of recalling the cars with the defective airbags installed has been very slow and difficult.  In fact, although the airbag issue has been known for a very long time, there are still an estimated 20 million recalled airbags that consumers are still waiting to have replaced.

The head of the industry watchdog Center for Auto Safety commented on the reason this is such a major problem for motorists stuck driving cars with defective airbags that remain unrepaired. He said that for any motorist with an unrepaired airbag, “it's kind of like having a ticking time bomb right in front of you every time you drive.”

NHTSA is supposed to help protect people from being forced to drive cars with dangerous defects for months or years on end, but WESH indicates that recent reports into the NHTSA's conduct showed the Administration was falling far short.

NHTSA was found not to follow its own procedures when it comes to recalls. In particular, the Administration doesn't verify how many completed repairs have been done and hasn't taken steps called for by its own protocols to address situations where many vehicle owners are not taking their cars in for repair.

WESH suggests that these problems don't just relate to airbags alone, but that they also re-occurred when dealing with spontaneous vehicle fires in Kias and Hyundais. NHTSA is investigating the problems with these cars, but no steps have yet been taken to facilitate a recall.

Problems with recalls are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the issues car owners have to deal with if their vehicle turns out to be defective. An Orange County lemon law attorney can provide insight into consumers' rights and can help those who have problems with new cars to pursue an appropriate legal remedy. To find out more about how our firm can help you, give us a call today.