Tag Archives: Recalls

NHTSA May Recall Every Tesla Ever Made Over Sudden Unintended Acceleration Complaint

Steve Hanley, Cleantechnica Jan. 18, 2020 – The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says it is reviewing a petition that claims every Tesla Model S, Model X, and Model 3 sold in America since 2012 is defective and should be recalled. Why?https://cleantechnica.com/2020/01/18/nhtsa-may-recall-every-tesla-ever-made-over-sudden-unintended-acceleration-complaint/

US Senate Panel Reverses Course On Rentals Of Recalled Vehicles

by Jeff Plungis, Bloomberg News

airbag

A Senate panel killed a proposal to permit companies to continue renting vehicles that have been recalled, a measure criticized by consumer groups, automakers and even some rental-car companies. The Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee instead voted Wednesday to require cars be repaired before they’re rented. … Democrats introduced an amendment that failed on a party-line vote to give [the National Highway Safety Administration] more funding and allow jail time for executives who hide auto-safety defects. Read More ›

California Assembly Member Pulls Auto Recall Bill As Opposition Mounts

by Jerry Hirsch, Los Angeles Times

Assemblyman Rich Gordon (D-San Mateo) said he notified the state Senate that he plans to hold AB 287, titled the Consumer Automotive Recall Safety Act, until next year to see if he can establish a consensus among dealers and a growing opposition. … Consumer advocates praised Gordon’s move. “The whole concept of allowing dealers to sell recalled cars is bad news for consumers,” said Rosemary Shahan, president of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety. “No one else in the industry thought this was a good idea.” Read More ›

How Recalls Work (And Don’t) And Why They’re All So Different

by Kate Cox, Consumerist

Where do recalls come from, and how are they handled? … The government maintains a one-stop shop website for listing recalls, but there is no National Bureau of Recalls… as much as it might help consumers if there were. Instead, a patchwork arrangement of four independent agencies is responsible for consumers’ health and safety. The agencies each cover a different aspect of health and safety — food, cars, medicines, household goods, and so on — and each of the four has a different process for initiating recalls and notifying consumers. Here’s how it all works. Read More ›

Exploding Air Bags: Takata Recall Now Totals 34 Million Vehicles

by Jerry Hirsch and Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times

Takata air bag

The auto industry is seeing increasingly large recalls as manufacturers share parts across their own models and use components from the same suppliers. NHTSA said there were 803 vehicle recalls last year involving 63.9 million vehicles. Last year’s tally included two of the 10 largest vehicle recalls in history and involved double the record number of cars set in 2004. … “It’s fair to say this is probably the most complex consumer safety recall in U.S. history,” [said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony] Foxx. Read More ›

Auto Industry Galvanized After Record Recall Year

by Bill Vlasic and Hilary Stout, The New York Times

cadillac tombstones

More than 60 million vehicles have been recalled in the United States, double the previous annual record in 2004. In all, there have been about 700 recall announcements — an average of two a day — affecting the equivalent of one in five vehicles on the road. … The attention to safety has also awakened car owners. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the nation’s top auto regulator, is on pace this year to receive 80,000 complaints from consumers about possible defects — about double the average annual number. Read More ›

Chrysler Yields To Urging On Takata Airbag Recall

by Hiroko Tabuchi, The New York Times

Takata air bag

BMW America is the sole remaining automaker to limit the recall to high-humidity areas. … [The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration] continues to press Takata to concede that nationwide recalls are necessary. The agency’s deputy administrator, David J. Friedman, said recently that the agency was preparing to initiate a formal process, including potential litigation, to compel Takata to order the recall. But the Japanese supplier has resisted, saying that regulators do not have the authority to compel such an action. Read More ›

Ford Expands Drivers Air Bag Recall Nationwide

by Tom Krisher, The Associated Press

airbag

Last month, NHTSA demanded that Takata and the five automakers recall driver’s inflators across the nation. Takata and Chrysler have refused and could face legal action. BMW says it’s still evaluating the demand. … In documents filed with NHTSA, Takata refused to do a national recall, saying it’s not supported by testing data. The company also said NHTSA didn’t have the authority to order a parts supplier to do a recall, and that only automakers can conduct them. Read More ›

Air Bag Recall Pressure Builds; Takata Remains Defiant

by David Shepardson, The Detroit News

airbag

Last week, NHTSA formally demanded Takata declare that millions of vehicles sold with driver-side air bags nationwide are defective, the first step toward forcing the company to recall the vehicles. … NHTSA is not empowered to order a recall. Because Takata refused, the next step will be for NHTSA to issue an initial decision demanding a recall and to schedule a public hearing, where it could hear graphic testimony from people who have been injured. If Takata refuses after the hearing, the agency would have to go to court to enforce the recall demand. Read More ›

Takata Heads Back to Congress over Faulty Airbags

by Aaron M. Kessler, The New York Times

Takata air bag

Legislators and critics of auto safety regulators have questioned whether the entire structure of regional recalls, which allows automakers or suppliers to limit safety recalls to certain states, should be re-examined or eliminated. Takata’s refusal to comply with regulators’ order to make the recalls national could test the limits of the current structure’s ability to handle such safety issues, coming in a year of a string of recalls by General Motors over ignition switches, which prompted their own congressional hearings. Read More ›

Takata “Deeply Sorry” to Those Affected by Defective Airbags, Still Reluctant on Nationwide Recall

by Ashlee Kieler, Consumerist

Senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Ed Markey of Massachusetts, both members of the Committee, pressured the auto executives to answer questions about the slow-pace related to replacing defective airbags and the failure to expand the scope of the recall. “It strikes me that these airbags failed, but the system failed equally if not more,” Blumenthal says. “I want to join Sen. Markey in his calling for a national recall of all cars with these airbags in passenger and driver’s side.”
Read More ›

Deadline Extended for G.M. Accident Claims

by Danielle Ivory and Rachel Abrams, The New York Times

Although G.M. has recalled about 16.5 million vehicles this year for ignition-related flaws, the compensation fund relates specifically to a pool of about 2.6 million cars that were recalled starting in February, including models of the Chevrolet Cobalt and Saturn Ion. Officials at the automaker knew about problems in the cars for more than a decade, but failed to alert regulators and the public until this year. The cars have a defective ignition switch that can suddenly cut off engine power and deactivate airbags. Read More ›

GM Ordered Switches Nearly 2 Months Before Recall

by Tom Krisher, The Associated Press

The switches can slip out of the run position, causing engines in cars such as the Chevrolet Cobalt to stall. If that happens, the power steering, brakes and air bags are disabled, and people can lose control of their cars. GM eventually recalled 2.6 million small cars for the problem, which has caused at least 32 deaths. The emails in the chain, which run from December into February, call the matter “urgent” and eventually use the words “safety issue.” Read More ›

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