Why Don’t Consumers Respond to Recalls?
Takata Corporation went bust ad filed for bankruptcy following the recalls of millions of its airbags installed in a range of car models. To date more or less 100 million vehciles have been recalled and another 2 million is expected to be recalled in Australia alone. There has been 20 deaths reported so far around the world and the first in Malaysia was reported in November of 2014 . The most recent death in Malaysia involving the airbag was on new year’s day this year (2018). In total there were 6 deaths associated with faulty airbags in Malaysia. What was interesting about the most recent death was that the owner allegedly did not respond to the notice for the model to be sent for airbag replacement!
A publication of a position paper about the state of safety and recalls in the automotive sector in Malaysia was issued in 2016 and identified significant shortcomings in the management of voluntary and mandatory recalls in Malaysia. In short the absence of regulatory control and oversight of the recalls mechanism in the automotive sector contributed to the lack of or limited response by car owners in the initial stages of the airbag recalls.
The vague notifications sent by automotive companies to car owners was a far cry from impressing the sense of urgency of the matter and risk to safety of drivers – passengers and other road users. Following several consultations between the association and Ministry of Transport and industry representatives, the recalls notice was called product recall and not service campaign or product updates etc.
"Nevertheless, shortage of new airbag supply further delayed the replacement rates of the faulty airbags and up till mid 2017 only 60 to 70% of the airbags were replaced according to authorities. The situation is so severe that some automakers are replacing old Takata airbags with similar but newer ones that will again need to be replaced once safer devices are available. NHTSA is currently subsidizing efforts by several states meant to boost response rates by, in some cases, allowing them to withhold a registration until an owner gets a vehicle repaired. If these pilot programs prove effective, that approach might eventually be adopted across the country".
Among the factor that was slowing down the replacement rate was still lack or limited response by car owners. It is not a problem only in Malaysia.
The National Highway Traffic Agency reports that, at best, only about 75 percent of the vehicles covered by any specific recall are likely to be fixed. And, in some cases, the completion rate dips below 40 percent.
''Another 2012 NHTSA sponsored study found that 21 to 25 percent of the problems covered by recall notices between 2006 and 2010 remained unrepaired. Carfax, which tracks used-car vehicle histories, calculated that more than 36 million cars on the road have uncompleted recall work. In some cases, owners don’t know there’s a problem because they bought their car used and the previous owner didn’t get the work done. Other times, automakers lose track of who owns the car because it has been sold and resold a few times. But a lot of people simply disregard the recall letter, especially if their car doesn’t show signs of the problem described. That’s a mistake, just like ignoring a fire alarm in your building because you can’t smell smoke''.
In the case of the January 2018 death, the man who died was a second owner who was unaware that the model was involved in the recall and the first owner did not send it for repairs despite having received the notice. Honda and other automakers in Malaysia faced similar problems in who owns the car because it has been sold and resold a few times.
As a consumer we have news of recall notices almost every day especially those living in the European Union and the United States.
"Recalls over the first 20 years of the NHTSA’s history were relatively consistent, averaging 95 distinct events per year from 1966 through the early 1990s. Beginning in the mid-1990s, however, recall activity jumped radically. From 1994 to 2013, the number of recalls climbed to an average of 177 per year, up 86% from the prior period average". Consumers maybe experiencing ‘recalls fatigue’ as some put it.
Perhaps regulators can replicate the Japanese system where a vehicle’s registration can’t be renewed unless the owner can prove that all recall work was done. In Malaysia’s situation (like in many developing and least developed countries regulators are already struggling with ensuring that recalls are the least carried out much less monitored for effectiveness). To date automotive regulators are rarely seen to be on top of the matter and there maybe still many more driving around with faulty airbags. They will not know until it literally blows up on their faces!
Note:
Comments