Checking Car or Truck Recalls

I’m David Holub, an attorney focusing on personal injury law in northwest Indiana.

Welcome to Personal Injury Primer, where we break down the law into simple terms, provide legal tips, and discuss personal injury law topics.

Each year millions of cars and trucks are recalled. A recall occurs when a vehicle defect develops that could result in injury or fatality to those operating a vehicle. A recall is issued to hopefully prevent future accidents.

We recommend checking the recall status of your vehicle every six months. The manufacturers are supposed to send out a mailing to the purchasers of vehicles when a recall notice is issued. In an ideal situation, the recall notice should follow the car. The new owner should get a notification when a vehicle is sold or traded. This does not always happen.

Several years ago, we helped a family who bought a used minivan. They drove along at about 45 mph when the rear axle suddenly failed and they suffered numerous serious injuries. The failed axle had been recalled, but the family was the third owner of the van, and no recall notice ever reached them.

When you take a car or truck in for an oil change or other maintenance, the company providing the servicing should check for recalls, but often they do not.

Here are some of the issues that have been noted for recalls in the past year:

• pop-out windshields
• brake light issues
• rollaway risk
• fire risk
• airbag issue
• loose wiper arm nuts
• short-circuiting rear turn signals
• brake failure
• fuel line issue
• leaky brake lines
• rear suspension failure
• faulty seat belts
• chassis weld failure
• transmission-related rollaway
• tire pressure warning glitches

As you can see from the list, many of the reasons for recall mentioned could lead to injury if ignored.

Search the National Highway Safety and Transportation website to check on recalls and enter your vehicle’s VIN number.

I hope you found this information helpful. If you are a victim of someone’s carelessness, substandard medical care, product defect, work injury, or another personal injury, please call (219) 736-9700 with your questions. You can also learn more about us by visiting our website at DavidHolubLaw.com.