ORLANDO, Fla. – With July Fourth holiday travel just days away, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Carfax are alerting Florida vehicle owners of open recalls that need to be taken care of, most free of charge.
According to NHTSA, 1,093 vehicle safety recalls affected 22.8 million vehicles in 2021, the highest number in a single year.
[TRENDING: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s free!)]
As of this week, 1 in 5 vehicles have an open recall in the state of Florida, ranking it third in the nation.
A NHTSA spokesperson told News 6 getting unsafe vehicles off the road is “a top priority for NHTSA in the effort to improve highway safety and save lives.”
Both NHTSA and Carfax offer free apps to track safety recalls.
Carfax spokesperson Emile Voss told News 6 that recall repairs can often be completed in only an hour or two and most repairs take far less than a day. Federal law requires that all recall work be completed at no charge to owners.
“It’s a wide array of things, but the one thing they have in common is there is a known safety issue,” Voss said.
News 6 ran a spot-check of license plates in the station’s employee parking lot and found more than a dozen cars with open recalls.
News 6 social media producer Stacy Greenhut admitted she knew about the recall for her 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe in March but was told the parts were not available.
A few weeks ago, she said a second notice indicated the repair parts were available but “she didn’t have the time” to get it done.
In this case, the repair is arguably critical. According to the recall notice, the car has a “condition involving the anti-lock brake system which could cause an engine compartment fire.”
Greenhut said she would “get the paper” and take care of the issue.
The need to check for recalls is punctuated by AAA’s prediction that 47.9 million people will travel 50 miles or more from home during the Fourth of July holiday.
New Carfax data shows more than “50 million vehicles on U.S. roads today are being driven with a known issue that should be repaired.”
While the overall number of vehicles with an open recall is down almost 6% from 2021, tens of millions of drivers remain at risk.
In July 2021, NHTSA launched its interactive Recalls Dashboard, a comprehensive, searchable database of all vehicle safety recalls, including those affecting car seats, tires, trailers and other vehicle equipment. The dashboard can be found at NHTSA Recalls by Manufacturer.
Owners can also check whether their vehicle has an open recall for free at the Carfax website.
If you have a recall issue, email Mike Holfeld at mholfeld@wkmg.com.