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Last month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that California, Ohio and Texas were going to be receiving grant money totaling 1.3 million dollars, in order to alert motor vehicle owners about open recalls going on for their vehicles. The grant money will be used by the appropriate governmental departments and agencies in each state, to contact consumers with descriptions of the defects that necessitated the recall, and information on where they can get the defects fixed, at manufacturer expense.
All three states were in the top five of all U.S. states for the most vehicle registrations in 2018. Typically, California registers over 36 million vehicles on an annual basis, Ohio more than 12 million vehicles, while the state of Texas typically conducts at least 18 million safety inspections annually. So these three states see a lot of motor vehicles.
According to Steven Bradbury, the Acting U.S. Transportation Secretary, “The U.S. Department of Transportation is proud to work with these three States on this commonsense solution to help drivers find and repair un-remedied vehicles on American roadways.”
These grants are being issued after a two-year pilot program that ran in 2017, where the NHTSA worked with the state of Maryland on a $222,300 grant program that helped identify over a million safety recalls. In fact, many of the vehicle owners that were contacted had been previously unaware of the recalls, some of which were over two years old, according to the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration.
The Importance of Defective Vehicle Recalls
A recall is initiated when either the NHTSA or a vehicle’s manufacturer determines that some part of a vehicle poses an “unreasonable safety risk” or fails to meet other important safety standards. These recalls require the automakers to fix the defective parts, or offer a refund to the consumer.
According to the NHTSA, there are around 53 million vehicles on the road that have open recalls, which is 25% of all of the vehicles on the road in the U.S. That is a quarter of all vehicles that pose a serious risk to, not only the driver and passengers in those specific vehicles, but also to everyone else on the road.
According to NHTSA Deputy Administrator James Owens, “Getting a vehicle recall repaired could save your life – or the life of someone you love.”
The NHTSA has actually released a free smart phone app that enables users to check for recalls, by searching using a vehicle identification number or by parts. The Safecar app will also alerts it’s users to future recalls.
Related Reading: Which States Have the Best and Worst Drivers?
Contact Our Colorado Springs Motor Vehicle Accident Lawyers Today
Have you or a loved one been injured by the negligent actions of a driver? Are you concerned you won’t have the money to pay medical bills and lost expenses? If so, you need an experienced Colorado Springs attorney on your side to help you fight for justice.
Contact the dedicated attorneys at the Green Law Firm, P.C. today by calling (719) 694-8515, or by filling out the contact form on this page, to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation and discuss your case.