Constant Recalls Are Now Commonplace
Brian O Sutter
Recalls
Back in 2014, automakers recalled nearly 64 million vehicles because of faulty parts or software, over twice the previous record of 31 million set in 2004. As of August, 2015 has already beaten that second place record, and by all indications it’s set to at least approach last year’s numbers.A New Vigilance
A fair amount of this dramatic shift in policy can be laid at the feet of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the federal body in charge of regulating the safety of motor vehicles. After years of accusations that the NHTSA has been acting as the rubberstamp lapdog of the car industry, the agency has recently stepped up its activities. In a very high-profile case, the NHTSA levied a $105 million fine on Fiat Chrysler Automobiles for failing to recall vehicles fast enough and in some cases even failing to inform anyone of known defects.
The fine has already inspired FCA to change its behavior and its corporate structure. The company fired most of the upper management in charge of recalling vehicles during the NHTSA’s investigation, and now that it’s stuck with three years of third-party oversight, it’s expanded its recall division and started to act more proactively. For instance, FCA recently recalled 1.4 million vehicles because a pair of Wired researchers proved that they could be remotely hacked and controlled (and that’s even though it took the researchers over a year to write the software they needed to hack the vehicles).
Corporate Responsibility
From a personal injury standpoint, it’s important to remember that even if a car company acts quickly and responsibly, it does not absolve them of all liability if a defect should happen to be responsible for a person’s injury or death. After all, if the company was doing its job properly, then it should have caught the problem before the defect had the chance to hurt or kill a passenger. Reacting properly does tend to reduce how much a company typically has to pay, though, and in an ideal situation the recall will happen before anyone is seriously injured.
On the other hand, it can be extremely tempting to try and avoid the expense and potentially negative publicity associated with a recall. FCA’s 1.4 million strong recall involved simply sending a USB stick with the software fix preloaded to every last car owner, but to do something so simple FCA had to pay software engineers to write the fix, they had to purchase 1.4 million USB drives and then upload the fix onto each and every one of them, and then pay the postage necessary to send 1.4 million USB drives through the mail system. The overall cost was likely much more than $1.4 million, even with bulk discounts, and yet this recall was likely among the least expensive campaigns they initiated this year.
However, avoiding a recall often turns out to be the more expensive move in the long run. Not only does FCA have to pay an unprecedented fine, but their admitted negligence is going to make it hard to avoid paying even more in personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits and settlements, plus the company may face additional criminal charges from the federal government.
If you or a loved one have been injured or killed in a car accident and you have reason to believe that a defective part is responsible, then you should contact a personal injury lawyer right away to find out what your options are. If you happen to live or work in southwest Florida, particularly in the Sarasota or Port Charlotte areas, then you should contact All Injuries Law Firm for a free case review. We are committed to making sure that all our clients get the compensation that they deserve.