In a typical month, a dozen or more vehicle recalls are announced by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. A few, like last year’s recall of Ford Explorers with Firestone tires, are widely publicized. Most are barely noticed, though owners of the affected vehicles are supposed to receive timely notification.
In addition to cars, trucks, buses, RVs, motorcycles and mopeds, millions of tires have been recalled, along with child seats and vehicle accessories.
Consumers often have the impression that recalls are ordered by the government, but only a tiny handful of the recalls issued in NHTSA’s 35-year history have been “ordered” or “involuntary.” All the rest–7,220, affecting some 269 million vehicles–are considered voluntary recalls, issued by the manufacturers but usually announced by NHTSA.
If 7,220 recalls sound like a lot, that figure should be compared against the total number of about 474 million vehicles sold in 35 years. Factor in the overwhelming number of moving parts on every vehicle, and the number doesn’t sound quite so forbidding.
Enacted in 1966, the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act–later recodified as 49 U.S.C. Chapter 301–gives NHTSA a twofold mandate: 1) the authority to issue vehicle safety standards; and 2) authority to require manufacturers to recall vehicles that are demonstrated to have safety-related defects.
How does the manufacturer–and the government–find out that a possible recall situation is in the making? Who makes that determination? What happens between the time a potential problem is identified and a recall is ordered–or no recall is issued?
“We constantly monitor the performance of our vehicles in the markets in which they operate,” said Ford spokesman Mike Vaughn. Ford has an Automotive Safety Office and a recall/service department, where analysts monitor several databases that contain complaints from dealers. It is akin to, but larger than, those at other carmakers. They also consider input from engineers.
Then, they perform a Technical Review, asking:
– Is there an issue; and if so what is it?
– Which vehicles are affected?
– What–if anything–should be done next?
“The first myth to dispel is that there is a discretionary factor” to the manufacturers, said Greg Martin, manager of General Motors’ media relations public policy office. “The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 is very specific and stringent.” It has to be followed “down to the exact wording in the letter that goes out to owners” when a recall has been issued. In addition, “conditions must be remedied within a reasonable time.”
The Information Age has expedited the flow of safety-related input, said GM’s Martin. A variety of channels link the manufacturer with suppliers, dealers and customers. If early information suggests that a trend might exist, the appropriate component or system is analyzed in greater detail.
“At some point, that group determines what’s going on.” Then, the case goes to a Field Performance Evaluation Committee. Next step: a report to senior leadership–namely, a GM vice president. From then on you have five days to notify NHTSA, Martin said.
The key is “how we understand that there’s a problem,” said Tony Brenders, manager of vehicle safety and emissions compliance at DaimlerChrysler. Initial information can come from customers (using NHTSA’s hot line, 888-327-4236). It might come from the dealer hot line or from parts analyses, where engineers find something that doesn’t look right. The problem might stem “from inside the process, while we’re building a vehicle.”
The heart of the problem, Brenders said, is trying to identify the cause and narrow it down. This “requires a lot of engineering effort.”
Recalls become necessary when a vehicle or piece of equipment fails to comply with a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard, or a safety-related defect has been discovered. Those safety standards set minimal performance levels for parts that affect safe vehicle operation, including brakes, lighting and tires. They also apply to safety equipment, such as air bags, seat belts, child restraints and energy-absorbing steering columns.
To be a candidate for possible recall, a safety-related defect has to pose an unreasonable risk to vehicle occupants. It must also be common to a group of vehicles of the same design or manufactured at the same facility.
Most safety defects result from inadequate design or manufacturing error. Affected components might include steering parts that could break suddenly, fuel system components that are susceptible to leakage during a crash or could result in stalling or fire or wheels prone to crackingwindshield wipers that could fall off.
Wiring systems that could result in fire or loss of lighting might be subject to recall. So might car jacks that could collapse, child safety seats that contain defective buckles and air bags that deploy when they’re not supposed to.
When a safety defect is discovered, the manufacturer of the affected vehicle must notify NHTSA. The manufacturer also must notify owners, dealers and distributors (the middlemen between manufacturers and dealerships who organize delivery of vehicles to dealer lots) of that vehicle.
NHTSA is responsible for monitoring the corrective action taken by the manufacturer. With certain exceptions, the manufacturer has to remedy the problem at no charge to the vehicle’s owner. The exception occurs if the vehicle is more than 8 years old when the defect is determined.
“After doing this thirty years,” said NHTSA spokesman Tim Hurd, it becomes “pretty clear what the safety defect is” in a given case. Even such luxury vehicles as Lexus can be recalled, Hurd said, including one situation that involved plastic melting in a taillamp. “If there’s a safety defect,” Hurd said, “there has to be a recall.” That’s the law.
When a recall is issued, GM’s Martin said, the manufacturer has to ensure that necessary parts are available and that dealers and customers are notified. “Do it right” is the overall theme; “but certainly, do it quickly.”
In a surprising number of cases, the remedy is nothing more complex than a warning or instruction label, to be posted on the vehicle. More regulations these days cause the number of opportunities to make a mistake to escalate, DaimlerChrysler’s Brenders said. There are “hundreds of regulations and more every day,” which effect potential recalls.
In the last year, NHTSA’s Hurd said, recalls “that the manufacturers initiated themselves, without NHTSA investigation” or influence, have been higher than usual. Other “tools in the toolbox,” according to Ford’s Vaughn, include warranty extensions, if a problem is uncovered that does not demand a recall. Head gaskets on Ford’s 3.8-liter V-6 engine, for instance, affecting the Taurus, Sable and Windstar, earned an extension when flaws were found.
“When we see an issue,” Vaughn said, “we move quickly.” We “don’t want to have safety in jeopardy.”
The record for most vehicles affected appears to go to Ford, in 1981, when some 21 million vehicles were charged with having a problem with reverse/park operation of the automatic transmission. Because “park” was not securely engaged after each attempt to move the gearshift to that position, the vehicle could appear to be in “park” even though it was actually in reverse.
The remedy was simple enough: a sticker on the dashboard that warned drivers of the hazards of unexpected vehicle movement, advising them to make certain the gear lever is engaged in “park,” to set the parking brake fully and to shut off the ignition.
For every serious recall applying to thousands of vehicles, there are dozens that deal with comparatively trivial defects or relate only to a handful of cars. Though the relationship between NHTSA and the manufacturers often is portrayed as antagonistic, “ultimately we both have the same goal,” Brenders said. The situation is “portrayed to be more adversarial than it is.” Still, complications arise in the gray areas.
“NHTSA is more absolute,” Brenders said. But as an “oversight” agency it “does a good job at challenging the industry to go faster.”
